Covenant of The Rain
by Anahgem
Summary: People said that Juvia would be okay; Gray would be back and they would be fine. But what no one told her was that when things would seem to fall into place, the past would come to haunt her. Summoned on a special quest to a kingdom affected by severe drought, Juvia must find a way to make it rain. But what is the kingdom trying to hide?
1. Prologue

_**Prologue**_

* * *

Juvia Lockser had been sitting at a corner table in her guild, Fairy Tail, taking small sips of a cup of chilled vanilla flavoured latte during brunch hours when the chaos began.

It started with a loud scream from behind her that startled her so badly that she spilt her drink on the table. Juvia shrieked and turned her torso to glare at the source of the noise. She scowled as she saw Natsu Dragneel racing at Gajeel Redfox with a flaming fist. Gajeel, on the other hand, was preparing to block the impending attack by turning his arms into iron.

She turned her attention back to her coffee which was now running down the table and dripping to the floor. On the table, amidst the brown liquid, lay the freshly chipped ceramic mug and a few shards of it that Juvia would have to notify Kinana about, so that it could be cleaned. She raised a hand and signalled to Kinana, who understood and hurried to grab a broom. Juvia then proceeded to use her magic to clean the spilt coffee. Once she was done, she groaned aloud, burying her face into her hands.

"Bad day?"Lucy Heartfilia enquired as she slipped into the empty spot next to Juvia.

Juvia looked up at Lucy to see the latter fondly smiling at the fight that was happening in the hall. She followed her line of vision and noticed that more people had joined, including Gray Fullbuster and Elfman Strauss. A sizeable crowd was growing around them, placing bets on the possible outcomes and the victor. And fortunately for them, but unfortunate for Juvia, Erza Scarlet and Mirajane Strauss, both the women that could end the bickering, were far away from Magnolia on a quest.

"Juvia has seen better ones." She sighed as she placed her palms on her lap in resignation.

Lucy laughed at her reply and grinned at her. "Do you want another coffee?"

"No, Juvia has had enough." She paused and then whispered so that only Lucy could hear, "That was actually her third mug." She sheepishly looked away as Lucy looked at her with her eyes wide.

"Wow. You're addicted to this stuff, huh?" Lucy teased, her cheek resting on her palms.

"Juvia loves coffee. And vanilla." Juvia murmured. "She finds it hard to resist."

"Just like you find Gray hard to resist?" Lucy was laughing again but stopped herself when she noticed Juvia's crestfallen expression at the mention of his name. "Hey." Lucy reached for Juvia's shoulder, placing her hand on it. "What's the matter?"

Juvia debated whether to be honest to Lucy about her problem. Even though Juvia and Lucy had grown close over their years together at Fairy Tail, Lucy and Gray were closer friends. She wondered if what she told her would stay between them. She bit her lip, contemplating until Lucy broke the silence.

"Juvia. You can tell me. I won't tell anyone. Promise."

Lucy's reassuring tone brought tears to her eyes. She looked up at her face and saw the concern etched over it.

"Juvia had an argument with Gray-sama yesterday night." She began. "It was bad." A heavy lump formed in her throat and she suddenly found it difficult to speak. When she began speaking again, her voice was hoarse. "Juvia got very angry and yelled at him and told him that all he ever did was always leave." Hot tears began rolling down her cheeks as she quietly sobbed.

Lucy stared at Juvia, dumbstruck. It was a shock to her that Juvia had been capable of saying something nasty to _Gray._ Lucy had been a recipient of Juvia's silly jealousy over her and Gray's friendship for all the while they had known each other. But Lucy also knew first-hand just how much Gray meant to Juvia. And even through the frequent _'Lucy is a love rival'_ phase Juvia had, Lucy knew that Juvia did care for her and consider her a friend and that she did indeed trust her. The unison raid that the duo had pulled off during their first battle together was proof of the strong connection and understanding that they shared. Lucy was honoured that Juvia was trusting her with this bit of information. Lucy pet her shoulder comfortingly, encouraging her to continue. She felt glad that the commotion created by Natsu and the others was keeping everyone occupied.

"It's just… _so_ _hard._ " Juvia mumbled. "Your quest is too much."

Lucy winced at the mention of their, Team Natsu's, 100 year quest.

Juvia wiped the tears off her face before speaking again.

"You were away for four months. _Four months_ , Lucy. And now you're all here for a few days because Erza was urgently required for a council quest. And before you know it, you guys will take off again. And nobody here knows when you'll come back next time. It could be a month or a year or longer than that!

"We have no way of keeping in touch with you or letting you know what's happening. It's so difficult to send letters when you're always on the move. And everyone is making progress. Everyone is making memories." She faltered and choked on her voice. "Everyone except Juvia and Gray."

Lucy was silent. She glanced around the guild, while Juvia's confession sank in. She couldn't disagree with Juvia. Her eyes momentarily stopped on Levy and her pregnant belly. A sense of sadness overwhelmed her as she realised the things she were missing out on.

The minute she and her team had returned for a few days' break from the quest, they had been greeted with the news of Levy's pregnancy. Lucy had been informed that she was in her second trimester and moving to her third in a week. She was also told that Levy would be moving in with Gajeel and that they were expecting twins.

In addition to them, Alzack and Bisca were expecting a second child. Bisca was in her third month, and her bump was only beginning to show.

And it wasn't just pregnancies that had happened. The war with Alvarez had left everyone shattered. People had realised how dangerous their life was and how they needed to cherish it more. Which was probably the reason as to why so many people had finally stepped into relationships. Cana and Bacchus had been on and off for a while before they made their relationship official a few months before Lucy had left on her quest. Mirajane and Laxus were seeing each other as well. Droy was dating a mage from Mermaid Heel. Lucy thought about all the news and gossip she'd been fed with to make up for the months she had been away; Sherry and Ren had had a healthy baby boy whom they named Francis, Hibiki had been offered a job in the archives of the new magic council, Rufus and Minerva had got together, Master Makarov had officially retired and handed the reigns over to Gildarts who had finally settled down in Magnolia to spend more time with Cana. Apart from this, Freed was rumoured to be in a relationship and there was a stronger rumour that Lyon and Meredy were a couple. And most importantly, in the third month of her absence from the guild, Elfman and Evergreen had gotten engaged.

Lisanna had given her and the others the full scoop about the event. She had told all of them that Elfman had been making elaborate plans for a month and had taken Evergreen on a trip to a beautiful island off the west coast of Fiore, where he took her up a mountain and proposed under the stars with actual vows. Immediately after their return, the entire guild had descended into a state of euphoria with a party that lasted a full day and night, and a festive mood that carried on for a week.

Lucy hated to admit it, but she understood exactly why Juvia felt so stagnant; all around her were her friends celebrating their lives, falling and being in love, building families.

And then there was Juvia who was still destined to wait for Gray till he completed a mission that could prolong for years and years.

"I understand." Lucy decided to tell Juvia exactly what she was feeling instead of trying to make her feel better.

"But do you really?" Juvia asked, her face now composed.

Before Lucy could reply, Juvia was talking again.

"You see Lucy, you're still with Natsu. You're still learning, experiencing and growing with him. And at some point in your journey, you will tell each other how you feel and start a different journey together. Similarly, Erza and Jellal meet up more often now than they ever have. And though neither of them have said anything, it's very evident that they're both so much more happier now. Even Happy and Carla have each other. Wendy's still young and this quest is going to help her so much. But Juvia doesn't have Gray-sama with her like you have Natsu. Juvia can't meet Gray-sama often or plan to meet like Erza and Jellal can. And Juvia definitely can't even be in a proper relationship with Gray-sama, much less start a family with him, until and unless you're quest is done with. Juvia is being forced to wait. And even though she tries to be patient, she feels bitter about it."

Lucy stared at Juvia wordlessly and took her hand into her own and squeezed it gently.

As Lucy pondered over what Juvia had said, Juvia thought about Gray having honoured his promise of giving her an answer at the end of the war. His answer had not been everything that Juvia had wanted it to be. Juvia had wanted to have acceptance and reciprocation of her feelings. But Gray had made it clear that while he did accept her feelings, he could not reciprocate with the same intensity yet. He had, however, admitted that he cared for Juvia more than he did for everyone else he knew and that she was an indispensable and important part of his life. He'd even gone on to tell her that he had felt empty and furious when she had been almost killed during the war. All he wanted from her was some more time. But he was willing to spend more time with her, and indulge her better.

And Juvia had been content. They weren't a couple. But they weren't just friends, either. They were a lot more and they both knew it and they were both happy. But it was then that his team had taken up the 100 year quest. And Gray had left, leaving Juvia feeling sad, but still content because this time, he had told her he was leaving and she knew he would be safe with his team.

But that had not prevented her from missing him. The truth was that Juvia was scared that she'd be left alone and fated to wait while everyone else grew older together. And that was why she'd asked Gray if he could atleast give her an estimate as to when his quest would be over. Gray had told her that he didn't know and she had pushed. He'd gotten irritated and told her that if she wanted, he could tell her the exact dates as to when he had to leave. This retort had angered Juvia who had screamed at him like she never had before, saying _"All Gray-sama ever does is always leave!"_

She had regretted it the moment she had said it, but it had already been too late. Gray had stared at her blankly and then left. She hadn't chased after him to apologise either. Something had been broken and Juvia was too tired, too passive to fix it.

And they still had not talked to each other. And Juvia was terrified of what this extended silence could mean for the two of them.

She was brought back to reality by Lucy.

"It will all work out."

Juvia had a feeling that Lucy was trying to convince herself rather than Juvia that everything would be all right.

And if there was one thing Juvia knew with conviction, it was that things were never all right for her.

* * *

The day was drawing to a close and the rays of the setting sun illuminated the interiors of the guild with a golden glow. Erza and Mirajane had returned earlier that afternoon after the successful completion of the council request while Lucy had left Juvia with her thoughts a little earlier than that, due to her wanting to spend some quality time with Levy. And now, as the day bordered on the darkness of night, a few guild members had lingered in the guild to bid farewell to Natsu and his team as they left on their quest once again.

Juvia sat at the bar, clutching a glass of apple martini. Next to her, Levy sat sipping orange juice. Gajeel sat to Levy's right, making small talk with both the girls. Kinana was cleaning up the various shelves while Lisanna and Mirajane cleared and cleaned all the tables. Laxus, Freed and Bickslow sat at a table, talking in hushed tones.

Their attentions were drawn to the doors of the master's office as it opened and Gildarts exited, followed by Natsu, Lucy, Erza, Wendy, Gray, Happy and Carla.

As they made their way down the stairs, the other mages stood up, preparing to send them off.

There was soon a small gathering at the main doors. Levy cried as she hugged Lucy, telling her to try and make it for the birth of the twins. Lucy shed a few tears of her own, not wanting to miss it, but knowing that she wouldn't be able to make it either. Gajeel playfully hit Natsu's arm with a grin and politely nodded at Gray. Panther Lily stood by Happy and Carla in a comfortable silence. Mira and Laxus talked quietly to Erza, wishing her the best. Meanwhile, Freed and Bickslow gave Wendy a neatly wrapped parting gift while Lisanna flitted between everyone before stooping down to wrap Happy in a hug. Kinana stood at the bar and waved at them with a small smile, not wanting to come interrupt the close-knit group.

For a while, Juvia stood aside with a brave face, eventually moving towards Lucy once Levy had stepped away and hugged her. Lucy held her back tightly. She moved on to the others hugging them all until she reached Gray, who eyed her silently. She stood in front of him and peered into his eyes imploringly. He looked back, his eyes not defying his stoic expression. She carefully raised her hand and placed it gently on his cheek. "I'm sorry." she whispered, eyes brimming with tears. Gray held her hand by her wrist for a few short seconds and pulled her palm away from his cheek and let it go. Juvia stood there in awe for a few moments, aware of the questioning glances they were receiving before pulling her hand back to her chest and stepping away. She hung her head, facing the wooden floors of the guild hall. As the last of the goodbye's were whispered and tears were dried, the team of seven moved outside.

Juvia timidly stood inside with everyone else. As Gray and the others began to walk away, Juvia's heart clenched.

After he had taken a few steps forward, Gray paused and looked back. His eyes swept over the group that was watching them leave. He saw Gajeel and Levy and Lily standing together, with Gajeel's arm snaked around Levy's waist and her own arms wrapped around her bulging stomach. He saw Laxus and Mirajane, Laxus' hand around her shoulder and her one arm around his waist and the other palm on his chest. He saw Lisanna, Bickslow and Freed huddled close. And then he saw Juvia, alone, looking at him expectingly, her eyes pleading.

Juvia thought he would. She really expected he would.

And yet, he didn't.

Gray Fullbuster turned and walked away into the blackening horizon without a single word to Juvia Lockser.

* * *

 **A/N: I haven't written anything except essays and short notes in a really long time, so kindly forgive me if I'm a bit rusty. This is a story that's been spinning in my head for a year or so now. And I just had to get it out. I hope to make weekly updates because college sucks and ruins my spirit. Also, I need to let you all know that this an alternate account because my other one has too many pending stories that I may move here and work on later, once this story is done. Also, this one might be a slightly long ride.**

 **xoxo**

 **~ Ana**


	2. Chapter 1

**Chapter 1**

* * *

Four seasons had passed when Lucy's sixth letter arrived at the guild, tied to the feet of a grey messenger pigeon.

It was summer again, and the memories of spilt vanilla latte and tearful farewells had returned to haunt Juvia's dreams. She had been away on a mission when Lucy's letter had come, and had thus missed the stir and disappointments it had brought along. The strange look that crossed Levy's face three days later as Juvia questioned her about the contents of the letter made her wish that she had not asked Levy anything at all. But most of all, it told Juvia exactly what the letter had said.

"They can't make it for Christmas." Levy said, her voice hollow and adorned with a dangerous edge. "Or before or after that. _Again_." Juvia watched her ball her trembling palms on her skirt and sighed as her thoughts were confirmed.

Team Nastu was not joining the guild for an extravagant celebration that Christmas as was previously promised. They would be away for another winter and probably many more.

"It's not fair." Levy spoke again, her anger seeping into her voice. "Lucy _promised_."

Juvia fiddled with her hair and hummed weakly, unsure of how to comfort Levy. She understood that Levy was upset with Team Natsu for all their broken promises, but whether or not Levy was justified in feeling betrayed, she was not certain.

"I just wish that she would just come by, you know? Not to see me, but to see Bee and Benji. Or am I wishing for too much?" Levy continued, gripping her skirt tightly.

"No. Juvia supposes you are not." Juvia said, laying her head on the table, closing her eyes briefly. She could not pretend as if she had not wished for Gray to come by sometime as well. She often wondered if and how things would have been for her if it weren't for that fateful night. All Juvia wanted was some clarity on where they stood. Damaged relationships were hard to fix; damaged relationships between damaged people were worse.

She missed Lucy as well. On some days, as Juvia passed the building where Lucy had been a tenant, she would stare into the window, hoping for a glance of the familiar blonde head and brown eyes. Until a few weeks before, the apartment had been unoccupied. But when Juvia had looked through the window that morning, she had seen an unfamiliar figure moving about with cardboard boxes. That was how Juvia had come to understand that Lucy's primary assumption about the duration of the quest had been proven wrong and that she had terminated her lease agreement with her landlady.

She was not alone in feeling the absence of Team Natsu; the entire guild was affected, especially with the lack of Wendy's medical expertise. The sweet sky dragon slayer had been more than kind to all her guild mates, patching up their wounds and injuries and healing their sicknesses without any complaints.

And of course, without Natsu, the days at the guild were becoming increasingly quieter with fewer brawls and arguments.

Her sad reverie was cut short by a tiny fist tugging at her skirt.

"Uuuuuuuuuu!"

Juvia and Levy simultaneously looked down to see Beatrice Redfox flashing Juvia a toothy grin, raising her arms up for Juvia to pick her up. "Hey Bee!" Juvia smiled, lifting the child onto her lap. "What are you up to?"

"Owaahuuwoo!"

"That sounds fun!" Juvia cheered, rubbing her nose with the toddler's button nose.

Levy burst out laughing at Juvia's attempt at conversing with Beatrice, oblivious to Gajeel approaching her from behind.

"Well, if it isn't all my favourite ladies." Gajeel guffawed, stooping low and placing a kiss on Levy's cheek and ruffling both Beatrice's and Juvia's hair.

"Now, could ya take this little guy of my back?" Gajeel faked tiredness and found himself smiling as Levy stuck her tongue out at him and took Benjamin Redfox off his shoulders and onto her lap.

The twins having found each other, descended into an exchange of excited sounds that left the three adults laughing.

As Gajeel settled next to Levy and the warmth of the moment grew on them, Levy found herself staring at Juvia's joyous expressions and efforts to join the siblings in their conversation. In the moment that followed, Levy's heart ached for Juvia and her solitude. But it was soon replaced with scathing fury towards Gray and his lack of humanity showcased very well by the lack of any form of communication from his side towards Juvia.

"Calm down, Shrimp." Gajeel whispered in her ear, feeling her body tense up against his.

Composing herself, Levy rested her head on Gajeel's shoulder. "I'm sorry." She mumbled under her breath, overpowered by the intensity of the knowledge that she had Gajeel by her side, through thick and thin.

Gajeel turned to look at her and raised an eyebrow, sighed, and buried his nose into her light blue hair. In the few minutes that he remained still with Levy in his arms, a comfortable silence enveloped them.

Gajeel soon focused on little Bee who was now comfortably asleep on Juvia's lap. Shifting his gaze to Benji, he noticed that he too was turning drowsy, his lids slowly closing.

"Alright." Gajeel remarked and glanced at Levy and then at Juvia. "I think it's time to get the kids home." He pointed at Benji and Bee and Levy nodded.

"Truly. It's been a long day." Levy agreed, carefully getting up with Benji's head on her shoulders taking care to not wake him.

Juvia stood up with Bee's head resting on her nape. Gajeel gently picked Bee from Juvia's arms and put her across his shoulder, just as Levy had done with Benji.

"See ya later, rain woman!" Gajeel called over his free shoulder as he began moving towards the doors of the guild.

"Bye Juvia! Do come by sometime." Levy smiled and followed suit, tailing after Gajeel.

"Bye Gajeel, Levy." Juvia waved them off and sat back onto her bench. Her shoulders slumped now that she was alone again. She hated it.

After the previous summer, Juvia had gotten closer to a few people; Levy was one of them. Her friendships with Cana and Lisanna had strengthened and she surprisingly got along well with Evergreen as well. In the meantime, she had also accompanied Freed on a few missions and managed to work along with Lyon and Jura from Lamia Scale under special instructions from Gildarts. During the past year, Meredy had become a frequent visitor at her house ultimately dragging Jellal along with her.

Juvia had indeed tried to keep herself occupied. She made sure that she balanced her work and her private life. She often baby-sat for Bee and Benji and occasionally for Asuka and her little sister Mouline. She was volunteering at Magnolia's orphanage alongside Cana, teaching the children basic math. She was even baking on her free weekends, supplying her friends at the guild with delicious chocolate treats. And yet, none of it was enough to keep her mind occupied. The silence of night and of a quiet moment were Juvia's strongest foes.

In the midst of her internal struggle, a cup of chilled vanilla latte was placed in front of her. Surprised, Juvia turned around to be greeted by Kinana's cheery smile. "It's on the house." She whispered and winked, before sitting down with Juvia.

"Kinana!"Juvia was taken aback by the gesture, but thoroughly touched. She smiled, gripping the cup with both her hands. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it!" Kinana smiled politely. "You looked like you could use some company."

Juvia nodded in agreement, taking a sip of the refreshing drink in her hand and welcoming its taste.

"I know what it feels like."

Kinana broke the peace, peering into Juvia's eyes as Juvia turned to look at Kinana, not understanding what she meant.

"Pardon?" Juvia rasied an eyebrow, setting her cup aside.

"I meant to say that I understand how you feel." Kinana clarified her first statement, her cheeks turning red. There was something about her expression that told Juvia that she was not comfortable sharing this information. But before Juvia could say a word, Kinana continued.

"Back when I found out about Erik and got my memories back, I- I thought things were finally going to be alright for us." She began, looking around to make sure no one else was listening.

"But I was wrong. The council took him away and I didn't even have a chance to talk to him."

Juvia stared at Kinana as she kept talking, her voice turning hoarser and eyes moist.

"And I couldn't talk to him for another year and a half until the threat of Tartarus came about. And though things have certainly picked up since then, that one and a half year of not being able to see him or just hear his voice was torture. Especially because there were so many things that I was unaware of, things that he knew and only he could tell me. I had no closure Juvia, though it was what I needed the most."

She paused long enough to compose herself before continuing.

"My point is that it's okay for you to feel this way. But know that it's not the end. You will find the answers you need."

Kinana gave a small smile as she stood up and brushed her apron. "I'll be off to the bar now. But if you need to talk, I'm right here."

As Kinana began to walk away, Juvia felt a tide of gratitude surge through her.

"Kinana!" She yelled out, causing a few heads to turn.

"Thank you!"

Kinana turned back and shrugged. "What are friends for?"

Juvia smiled, her smile reaching her eyes for the first time in many weeks.

* * *

In hindsight, Juvia could not imagine any reasons as to why Master Gildarts would want to see her. It couldn't be about the quest that she had recently completed; it had been successfully completed and she had taken precaution to ensure that private properties hadn't been destroyed. She had also submitted a detailed report of her mission and had received Gildart's approval for the same. Everything regarding the previous job had been completed and filed and put away. She was certain.

Nevertheless, she patiently waited outside the doors to his office in anticipation. She had been lazily laying on her bed listening to her favourite instrumentals when Jet had come to her door with a 'classified' message from Gildarts. The paper by itself was nothing special; just a spare piece of white paper folded and sealed with the word 'classified' sprawled on it in red ink. What made the paper special was the enchantment used for sealing; the seal would only break at sensing Juvia's magic on it.

Juvia had, of course, been surprised by the delivery. As soon as she had touched the paper, the seal had broken, revealing the simple phrase inside, which read: _**'URGENT; Meet me at the guild IMMEDIATELY.'**_ The letter had further been signed by Gildarts.

It was the urgency of the unknown situation that had Juvia stressed as she waited outside Gildart's office. She had run out of her house in a pair of shorts and a T-shirt with her hair in a ponytail, not bothering to change into her usual choice of outfit which consisted of her deep-blue slitted skirt, green corset, her blue and white coat and her beanie. She regretted not having changed, realising that she would have felt so much more comfortable in her daily clothes at the guild.

Juvia glanced at the heavy teak double doors that remained shut though she had knocked once. She knocked again.

This time there was a reply.

"If you're Juvia, come in. If you're someone else, come back in another hour."

Juvia gulped, nervousness and curiosity getting the best of her. She steeled herself and pushed the doors open. She was greeted by the view of the office and Gildarts sitting on a chair behind the dark brown table, seemingly buried in paperwork.

She gently shut the door and took a couple steps towards the table.

"You wanted to meet Juvia, Master?"

Gildarts whipped his head up and then suddenly thrust his face forward and back again. He smiled.

"Juvia! I like your new style!"'

"Huh?" Juvia was a little taken aback by his comment. She wished she would have changed before coming. She decided it was best to not reply, but to get to the topic.

"Did Juvia make a mistake?"

"Oh no!" Gildarts rose from his seat, moving to the centre of the table, blocking it from Juvia's view. "It's all very nice. But maybe you could wear tank tops instead. Don't you think it's too hot for other clothes?" He stood with his arms crossed, appearing very pleased with himself.

Juvia stood in her spot and stared at Gildarts till he realised his mistake.

"Oh." He gasped, awkwardly scratching his head. "You meant the quest."

"Yes. Juvia did." She replied curtly, trying her best to keep her irritation out of her voice.

"You did well with the previous quest. I didn't call you with regard to it." He went back to his chair and sat down. "Take a seat, Juvia." He pointed to one of the two cushioned chairs at his table and motioned for her to sit. As she moved forward and settled into her seat, Gildarts began to speak.

"I called you because I wanted to discuss a prospective mission with you."

"A prospective mission?" Juvia questioned, blinking.

"Yes. That means that you can either accept or turn down the mission."

Juvia let the information sink in slowly. She liked the condition.

"Now Juvia, listen very carefully to what I'm about to tell you." Gildarts placed his hands on the table and leaned forward. "Have you heard of the country of Phiri?"

Juvia searched her memories before shaking her head in denial.

Gildarts pursed his lips, a grave expression placing itself on his face. "Phiri is a large island country atleast 20 days of travel away from Fiore. The country is bigger than Fiore and belongs to the continent of Narasa.

"Phiri is currently ruled by their queen, Queen Mazha of the royal family of De Luna. Her grandson is about to take over soon as her heir. But what is interesting about the Kingdom is its population of mages. 20 percent of their citizens are magic users. That's double of Fiore's rate. Even more interesting however, are the legends of Phiri.

"The people of Phiri believe that at the time of the creation of Earthland, the Gods joined forces with the Dragons and the Demons to make a land so beautiful that it would be an object of envy to anyone that saw it. But the help of the Dragons and the Demons came at a price. They asked that they be allowed to share the space of the Gods on Earthland. Without another choice, the Gods agreed. At the end of the creation Earthland, each God, Dragon and Demon went to live in their new space. The God, Dragon and Demon of water went to live in the ocean. But soon war broke out between all the Gods, Dragons and Demons because they were not supposed to exist together. There was much gore and destruction. But the entities of water refused to partake in the war. In the course of their shared living, they had realised that harmonious existence was possible. And so, to put an end to the meaningless war, the entities of water rose from the ocean and combined their powers to defeat the reckless armies. The union of the water magic of the God, Dragon and Demon was so powerful that after the armies had been defeated, the seas couldn't contain it. The seas exploded with the water magic and half the magic rose to the sky. The magic that reached the sky took the form of clouds.

"It is also believed that the entities of water-or as the people of Phiri calls them, the Water Trinity-, made the clouds to break into rain as a reminder of the wonders that can be achieved together as well as of the violence that took place.

"Another interesting fact is that the De Luna family was made the royal family, or at least the rulers of the times, after a water mage was born in that bloodline more than a 1000 years ago. That child was considered blessed by the Water Trinity because this child was the first person in Phiri to be born with water magic. And since then, the right to rule has been with the De Luna family."

Juvia sat in awe as Gildarts finished his story. She felt sorry for not having known anything about a country that valued water magic so much. Gildarts continued talking.

"But that's enough about their history and rulers. I'll get to the crux of the matter. Just like every other place, Phiri is dependent on the rain for fresh water. However, their dependency works on a spiritual level as well. People of Phiri believe that an absence of rain is a punishment for sin. And unfortunately, it hasn't rained in Phiri for the last four and a half years."

Juvia's hands flew to her mouth in shock. The country was in drought.

"They've managed till now without significant damage, but it won't last. Their freshwater sources are going dry and their ground water levels are fast depleting. They need the rain. And they need it fast.

"They've tried everything that they thought was possible; they've had prayers and rituals, they've tried combining magic, they've tried artificial rain. Nothing has worked so far.

"In desperation, they sent palace officials to every country in every continent. That's how they heard of you. And now, they have specially requested for your services in their country, to at least try once."

Juvia's eyes widened in surprise. Never had she thought that a day would come when her biggest enemy, her rain, would be seen as useful.

"There is no other given information. But they have promised their wholehearted help. And they have also informed that you may lead a team of a maximum of ten mages for their help. Each of your travel and accommodation will be taken care of by the kingdom along with any other need that may arise, including any necessary protection. Furthermore, each of you on the quest will be paid a million Phireas as remuneration for successful completion. If you try and fail, you will receive a quarter million Phireas. A million Phireas, Juvia, is one and a half million Jewels."

Juvia was certain that her head was spinning. One rule of quests was that the money would be proportionate to the danger involved or the importance of the quest. If she accepted this quest. She was taking up a big challenge, playing with the lives of the civilians of an entire country. If she took up this quest, she had to succeed.

"Now," Gildarts continued, not having finished, "I personally think that you should give this a try. And I'm not speaking as your guild master." He smiled, causing creases at corners of his eyes. "I'm speaking as a man in love with wandering. You're a very young girl Juvia, and there is so much of the world to be explored and so much to learn everywhere. Even if this quest is not successful, imagine the amount of exposure you would gain!

"You will be travelling across to another continent and country and will be learning so many more things about water magic and its history. You will be able to grow stronger and wiser. But most of all, you will be able to feel the thrill of travelling! Grab the world, Juvia!"

Juvia considered Gildart's words carefully. He did have a very valid point. Regardless of the difficulty of the mission, she only had things to gain. She would be leading a quest on specific request. She had not led a quest till then. Right now, she had an opportunity and it was an opportunity to shine. She let that thought fill her.

Gildarts spoke again, momentarily interrupting Juvia's thoughts.

"And Juvia, it may not be my business but I think this quest will be a good distraction for you." He scratched his head again and gave her a lopsided smile. "I don't know the scene with Gray, but I think this will help you to put things into a better perspective. You know? To calmly think about what you really want and what you really need."

Juvia stood still, taking in what he said.

She sighed. She knew he was right.

She needed a fresh perspective.

"I'll do it." Juvia said, deciding that she would not come to a different conclusion no matter how hard or long she thought on the lines of the quest.

"Are you sure?" Gildarts questioned, a genuine smile crossing his face.

"Juvia is certain."

* * *

It had taken her the entire day to put together a team, but she had finally done it. And she couldn't have been more satisfied. Juvia stood tall and proud. ' _My quest.'_ , she thought as she held the file that had all the information that she needed close to her chest. She glanced at the table where Gajeel, Panther Lily, Lisanna and Cana were seated, having already started research for their quest. She watched as each of them flipped through pages of fat books, occasionally scribbling down notes on small chits of paper. They were still incomplete, but Jellal and Meredy would join them at sundown with more information about Phiri and its absent rain.

Gildarts had already given both his approval and his blessings to the team and had made the required arrangements for the group to leave at dawn on Saturday, which was two days away. Juvia was further informed that a representative of Phiri would join them at Hargeon port on Saturday with their tickets to the country.

Juvia smiled as she made way to the table where her team sat, carrying her papers and a tray of drinks. She couldn't wait for Saturday to roll around.

Little did she know of the turmoil two little days could make.

* * *

 **A/N: Hope you liked it! This is late, but I'm glad I could put it out here! So what do you think is going to happen in these two little days? I'd love to hear your thoughts! Special thanks to Martygruvialover, 9, mimigurl, Mrs. Guest, korpo2003, smilingsky and the unnamed guests who reviewed! You guys made me happy and kept me motivated! Thank you!**

 **~ Ana**


	3. Chapter 2

**Chapter 2**

* * *

Natsu Dragneel stood on a cliff overlooking Magnolia and grinned, waiting for his friends to catch up with him at the outskirts of the city. Happy, his exceed, circled around his head in delight.

"We're finally home, Happy!" Natsu cheered, pumping his fist in the air. "And we're home for good!"

"Aye!" Happy screamed, flying faster.

"Look at how excited you two are!" Lucy appeared beside them, finally having caught up to the pair that had raced off at the sight of the broken wooden signboard for the city. Gray, Erza, Wendy and Carla followed, smiles gracing their tired faces.

"Aren't you?" Natsu questioned, turning around to face his friends and team mates.

Lucy stretched and yawned. "I will be, as soon as I take a nice long bath with some of these essential oils, get a good nap on my comfortable mattress and have a hearty meal." She smiled wider, imagining herself in the comfort of her home. "I sure hope that the agency I paid has cleaned up the apartment." She added wistfully, dreading the thought of having to clean up before anything else.

"I agree. I would really like to feel rested." Wendy spoke, exchanging knowing smiles with Carla.

"In that case, I suggest we get a move on." Erza took a step forward, placing her hand on Natsu's shoulder. "The guild will be surprised."

"Yeah." Gray agreed, cocking his head. "The sooner we get to the guild and complete the formalities, the sooner we can rest. Let's go."

"All right then!" Natsu yelled as his team broke into fits of laughter.

"I'm all fired up now!"

* * *

Juvia sat at a table with her team, looking through the map of Phiri and making specific marks at certain areas of importance. The map had been brought by Jellal and Meredy and neither had spilled the beans regarding where they had procured it from. The two mages had arrived at the guild the previous evening armed with information about their destination along with a few necessities for their long journey.

Gajeel had suggested that they wait till the next morning for further discussion and Juvia had immediately agreed, seeing the tired faces of Cana and Lisanna. She was also certain that Jellal and Meredy were worn out from travel, though the pair pretended otherwise They had all retired for the evening and Jellal and Meredy went with Juvia, having previously arranged to stay at her house. After a good night's sleep and a satisfying breakfast of pancakes and maple syrup, the trio had come to the guild at sharp eight o'clock as was agreed with the others. On entering the guild hall, Juvia had found Cana and Lisanna huddled over a few books and had joined them at their table. They were soon joined by Gajeel and the meeting had commenced. At the end of the exchange of information, Jellal had produced the map that the group was currently studying.

"According to my understanding," Jellal spoke, pointing at the map, "we will get down at the port of Sayaro, which is here, on the eastern shore of Phiri. Sayaro is the closest port town to Tassim, the royal capital. We will most probably be escorted by royal carriage. And if I'm not wrong, our journey out of Fiore will be by a royal ship."

"Wow. That's a lot of royalty." Lisanna commented, following the routes that Jellal was tracing on the map.

"It is." Cana agreed, staring at the unfolded parchment on the table. She turned to look at Juvia. "Do you think they'll have booze?"

Juvia looked up from the map, startled. "Cana!" she chided, exasperated. Cana laughed.

"I'm kidding! I always stay sober for quests. I've not drank anything but water and _non-alcoholic_ beverages since I told you that I'll be joining you."

Juvia pursed her lips, trying to hide her smile.

Cana winked at her before turning to the map again. Observing Cana's scrunched facial features, Juvia felt a sense of relief that Cana had agreed to help when Juvia had reached out to her. The latter had been thoroughly surprised at first, arguing that there were other mages that Juvia could ask for help. But Juvia had held her ground, until Cana had agreed with her eyes wide and face red. Cana was a strong mage, a true Fairy Tail wizard at heart. It was saddening that she was often underestimated with regard to her strength because of how much she drank. Juvia knew that Cana wanted to be as strong as her father. But she also knew that Cana needed to realise her own strength that she hid away conveniently, for the sake of keeping appearances. Cana needed to believe in herself as much as she believed in her magic and Juvia had decided to take it up as a personal mission to help Cana find herself during their quest together.

"Hey guys?"Meredy interrupted Juvia's thoughts, darting her eyes between the others. "There's one more thing to be said with regard to the quest. It may or may not be important."

"Yeah?" Juvia urged her to continue, her own eyes still studying the map beneath them.

"Queen Mazha doesn't have any magic. It's said that she lost her ability to use magic."

"Oh? Is that so?" Juvia continued looking through the map, focusing on the northern side of Phiri.

"Yes." Meredy affirmed, lowering her voice down a notch.

"She lost her magic exactly four and a half years ago."

* * *

Gray Fullbuster made sure that he was standing behind everyone else as Lucy Heartfilia opened the large double doors to the guild screaming that they were back. He followed the rest of his team inside, grinning wide. In the next moment, commotion had ensued.

He could hear shrieks of surprise and yells of happiness. He could hear catcalls and shouts. He swore that he could even hear a few sniffs and crying. Gray was soon enveloped in a crushing hug from Elfman. Elfman was replaced by Jet and then Droy and then a blur of faces that moved on faster than Gray could recognise. He was soon looking at the babies of the guild as he saw Mouline in Alzack's arms and Beatrice and Benjamin in Lily's and Lucy's arms while Levy stood by them, smiling.

When the crowd around them had dispersed, Gray was tackled by a hug from Cana.

"Ass." She greeted, holding him tight. "You were missed."

He laughed as he pried her off him. "Same here."

Once Cana had moved away, Gray was suddenly face to face with the one person he was dreading to see.

"Juvia." He breathed, his body tensing as she pulled away from hugging Natsu and Happy.

"Gray." She nodded, acknowledging his presence but said and did nothing else. She continued to look him in the eye, hands crossed. If anything, Gray thought he was seeing disappointment in her eyes. He forcefully tore her eyes off her, fixating them on Meredy and Jellal. Before he could open his mouth, Erza had pounced.

"What are you two doing here?"

Erza was staring into Jellal's eyes as if the answer to her question were hidden behind his orbs. It came as a surprise to her that Jellal was at the guild. She did not remember him mentioning any plans of visiting the guild to her on the occasion of their last meeting, which had been merely four days ago.

To Erza's great annoyance, instead of answering her, Jellal turned towards Juvia. It was at this precise moment that Gray paid attention to the odd group that was in front of him. Gajeel stood next to Juvia holding a fat book in his hand. There was Cana, whom he suspected was sober, at their side along with Lisanna, who for once did not seem to be in her carefree and cheery mood. Next to her was Jellal and Meredy, both of them looking uncharacteristically relaxed and not in a hurry.

He looked at Juvia inquiringly as she took a small step forward.

"They're both here for a quest." She spoke coolly, answering Erza. "We leave day after tomorrow." She finished.

"The six of you?" Erza pressed.

"Yes." It was Gajeel who replied.

"Oh. How long is it for?" Erza questioned again, though this time she was aiming the question at Jellal once again.

"We're not sure." Jellal said, ruffling his hair. "Two months at the very least."

Erza's shoulders slacked.

"That's pretty long." Wendy chimed, sharing her thought as Meredy stared at the younger girl incredulously.

"Well, yes. Juvia agrees that it is rather long for a regular mission." She looked around awkwardly before speaking again. "Umm. Juvia does not want to be rude, but we" she pointed towards the six of them, "need to get back to work. We're quite short on time."

"We won't keep you." Erza said, moving away. She briefly made eye contact with Juvia. That glance was enough for Juvia to know that Erza was not done with her enquiries. "Let's go give our report." Erza led the rest of Team Natsu towards Gildarts' office, looking back at Jellal one last time.

Gray took a final look at Juvia who was adamant on not looking him in the eye. He raised an eyebrow, shrugged and followed his team.

"Okay." Meredy said, glad that the awkward meeting was over. "Let's get back to work!" She faked enthusiasm, hoping that it would motivate the group after the strange encounter.

Juvia sighed as the six made their way to their workspace.

She had a gut feeling that these two days would feel like an eternity.

* * *

It was during their lunch together that Lisanna had suggested that the group split in the afternoon to collect supplies for their journey and to pay a visit to Porlyurisca to stock up on medicines and potions that could help them since Wendy would not be around and because they would be in a foreign territory. Of course, nobody wanted to visit the grumpy old lady. Yet, after much persuasion, the task to visit her house in the woods had been taken up by Jellal and Meredy, especially since they couldn't freely roam the streets of Magnolia for other purposes.

Lisanna and Cana had volunteered to purchase snacks and drinks for their commute, regardless of their royal mode of transport. Lisanna had gone to great lengths, stating that a bag of chips and a stock of candy were always requisites for a sleepless night.

Gajeel on the other hand, had volunteered to scour through Levy's endless volumes of books for any that would be remotely useful for their quest, including those on water magic and complex curses.

That left Juvia with the job of going around Magnolia's old magic market and purchasing a few magical tools that Jellal had instructed her to get.

Prior to their lunch, the group had thought of and discussed a few theories that could explain the simultaneous disappearance of the queen's magic and the country's rain. A few of them had also made sense, such as Cana's assumption that the queen's magic may have been sourced from the rain and Gajeel's idea that the rain may have been caused by an excessive outflow of the queen's magic as was Juvia's case many years ago. But theories were only theories till they could be proved, and so the team had given up after a while, deciding that the mystery could be decoded at another time and date.

As Juvia wandered through the dusty market streets, deafened by the shouts of hawkers and bargaining customers, she kept thinking about the possible connections between the disappearance of Phiri's rain and their queen's magic. Though she could not prove it, she had a strong feeling that the two were definitely connected. She willed herself to remember to ask the queen about the coincidence once she reached the royal court.

Prioritising her needs, Juvia glanced back at the paper in her hand on which the names of various magical items had been scribbled down by Jellal. She'd gotten everything on the list at cheap prices, just as he had told her. _'They don't know the true value of the things they sell.'_ He had said as he wrote the list. _'They'll sell it at dirt cheap rates_ _as long as you play the bargain game well.'_ And luckily for them all, Juvia was a wonderful bargainer.

It was a skill that she had acquired as a teenager, from when she had started earning money on quests. Juvia had come from nothing; she _did not_ want to go back to having nothing. So she had saved every Jewel that she had earned, spending it carefully, acting like a true miser. She would bargain for clothes and shoes and even for the fresh ugly produce that was already being sold cheap. But it had worked for her. After a few years of relentless saving, Juvia had enough money to buy a mansion. She was rich. But she had still insisted on careful expenditure. And that habit of hers had allowed her to be the first of her friends to buy a house. People still looked at Juvia strangely when she fought hard for the cheapest rates on _everything_. But Juvia did not care, simply because this was who she was.

Her fears and insecurities were not for the world to judge.

* * *

The sky was shimmering with hues of orange and red when Juvia made her way to the guild armed with a heavy bag to meet Jellal and hand in her purchase to him since he had sent word earlier that he would be staying with Erza that night. She quickened her pace, realising that she was running late. As the guild loomed into view, she could make out Jellal's silhouette leaning against the outer walls of the building. She waved her hand frantically, praying that she would be forgiven for her late arrival. As she came nearer, she was greeted by the sight of scarlet hair, blending into the lighting imparted by the setting sun.

"Juvia is so sorry, Jellal!" She apologised profusely, bowing a little. "She lost track of time in the market!"

Jellal chuckled, waving her off. "It's perfectly alright." He took the bag from her and peered into it, pushing his hand inside. "Did you get everything?"

"All of it." She smiled, puffing her chest out proudly. "And at dirt cheap rates too, just like you said."

"Good job, Juvia." Jellal praised, a smile adorning his face.

The moment was ruined when Erza abruptly stepped nearer to Jellal and demanded Juvia's attention.

"Juvia." She said nonchalantly. "A word with you." She turned on her heels and began walking to the rear of the guild. "Oh, and Jellal?" She called over her shoulder, pausing for a quick minute. "You can leave without me. I'll catch up in a little while."

It was not a request and Juvia knew it.

Juvia sighed as she locked eyes with Jellal. He smiled at her apologetically, his eyes reflecting the concern he felt. Juvia shrugged lightly before waving goodbye to Jellal and following Erza.

When she reached the rear garden of the guild, Juvia found Erza waiting for her at a wooden bench. Juvia carefully made her way towards the latter, irritated that she was being made to stay back. She desperately wanted to go back home and rest.

She wasted no time on pleasantries. "Did Erza need something from Juvia?"

"I just needed to know something." Erza crossed her arms across her bosom. "Why did Jellal agree to go on this quest with you?"

Juvia was startled for a second before she regained her composure. "Juvia did not ask him why. She requested his help and he agreed." Juvia leaned against the bench to relax her body.

"Oh." Erza was visibly distraught. Juvia felt bad for her.

"Would you do me a favour, Juvia?"

"What kind of favour?" Juvia asked, cautiously. She wondered if Erza would make her promise to keep Jellal safe and out of trouble.

However, the next few words that flew out of Erza's mouth threw Juvia off-guard.

"Could you relieve him of this quest?"

Juvia was shocked, more by the request that Erza had made rather than the pleading expression that was growing on her face.

"No!" Juvia shrieked and then repeated calmly. "No Erza. No."

"Juvia, please." Erza tried again. "Try to understand my intentions. I mean well." She paused momentarily, as if she was contemplating whether to continue. Then, after a deep breath she said, very quietly, "I had plans for the two of us. Plans for us to be together. We've been apart for too long Juvia!" she reasoned. "If you take Jellal with you, I'll have to wait longer. You can always take someone else. Can't you?" The final phrase was a challenge, one that was typical of Erza. Juvia knew that Erza was reaching out to her emotional and vulnerable side, the side that knew the torment of waiting and the pain of unfulfilled love. But surprisingly, it didn't make an impact.

Instead, Juvia seethed with rage. She spoke, her voice dangerously calm.

"No Erza." Juvia stood straight, her hands clutching her sides. "Juvia will take only Jellal and no one else because he is the one Juvia needs on this quest. And if Juvia could wait for more than a year with so much of tension in the atmosphere, Erza can definitely wait for a much lesser time."

She waited a minute, gauging Erza's reaction to her statements before delivering the final blow, an emotional baggage that Juvia wished she could have emptied under different circumstances and in a different manner.

"Juvia waited for Gray in agony under the rain in an abandoned village for six months not knowing whether he was dead or alive or consumed by the darkness spreading across his skin."

Erza flinched and to her credit, looked _ashamed_.

"Erza can at least be certain of Jellal's whereabouts and safety. Juvia will ensure that he is safe. She gives you her word that he will come back to you at the end of the quest, safe and sound."

Her words seemed to cut across like daggers against Erza's skin. She finally met Juvia's eyes, her good eye moist with angry tears.

"Is this revenge, Juvia?" She barked, tears spilling.

Juvia sighed, glancing at Erza and then walking away.

"No Erza." She said, loud enough for Erza to hear her.

"This is Juvia's quest."

* * *

As millions of stars twinkled across the black sky, Juvia lay in her bed pondering over her shattered relationship with Erza.

She did feel bad about what she had said and how harsh she had been, but strangely she did not regret it. She could only hope that Erza would forgive her.

Especially because Erza had always been kind to Juvia. Even when most others gave her weird looks for her enthusiasm about Gray, Erza had always cheered her on giving her advice and lending an ear to the lamentations of her heart. She had always been a great friend, one that Juvia was sure she could count on. Erza was Juvia's confidante, and the first person who got to taste anything sweet that Juvia would bake. Erza was her sleepover partner, showing up on random nights at her doorstep at Fairy Hills, clad in pajamas and equipped with kinky magazines and food. Erza was her four a.m. friend, always there to comfort her after a terrible nightmare that would leave her paralysed with fear. Erza was her first female best friend. Erza was important.

But as much as Juvia loved Erza, she could not forgive her for what she had put Juvia through during the year of the guild's disbandment.

Erza's instructions to Gray had cost Juvia her peace of mind. It had made her worst fears attack her and her worst nightmares come alive. It had stripped her off her sanity.

And although Juvia knew that Gray was at equal fault for not making the choice of telling her the truth although he owed it to her, it was difficult for her to not feel bitter towards Erza, all the same.

On the other hand, as if her problems weren't enough, there was the unresolved situation with Gray. Juvia hated that he had returned right before she had decided to leave.

She was aware that she was the one holding the reigns between Gray and herself at the moment. All she wanted from Gray was an explanation and a decision. She was bent on giving him an ultimatum; to either stay or leave. Juvia sighed. It was simple enough in her head. But nothing was ever simple in real life. She had a day left to let Gray have a piece of her mind. And she was going to make sure he got it.

Juvia shut her eyes tight, wishing sleep would engulf her soon.

Sometimes, her own feelings maddened her.

* * *

Lucy sat on a rocking chair cradling Benji in her arms, watching as Levy put a sleeping Bee down in her cradle. Levy reached for Benji and Lucy complied, passing the child to her.

Lucy had wanted to stay over with Levy for a day or two, to give herself the satisfaction of spending time with her best friend's babies, especially since she'd missed most of their early months of life. Levy had been happy to have her over and Lucy was overjoyed at the prospect of some quality time with the three of them.

Gajeel was locked up in Levy's study, going through pages and pages of old and dusty books in the company of Panther Lily. Now that the twins were put to bed, Levy was finally free to spend some time with Lucy.

Levy signalled for Lucy to follow her out into the balcony of the guest bedroom that had been converted into the nursery. The two ladies settled down on the patio chairs, under the glimmering stars. From where they sat, they could both clearly see the Orion's belt and Ceres, the brightest star in the sky.

"So.", Levy began, crossing her legs. "Would you please explain the case of the letter and your arrival?"

Lucy giggled.

"Well you see," she started to speak, smiling at Levy's annoyed expression, "the truth is that we weren't supposed to be here at all now. At least, that's what we thought when I wrote you that letter. We had to change plans because we found a lead that no one else had found over the years.

"We just happened to be lucky, to be completely honest. What really helped us was Natsu's and Wendy's heightened senses. They were both able to sense a very slight shift in the magical particles that were left during each robbery and massacre." Lucy paused, inhaling the fresh air around her.

"The gang of thieves turned out to be significantly strong mages sharing the same magic. They had managed to evade other mages and the council forces for so long because their magic is light speed and invisibility combined with being able to bring about absolute silence.

"It was still extremely difficult to catch them, though. But ultimately we managed to do it. Gray froze an entire village at Natsu's signal. The thieves got trapped in ice. Wendy cast a spell to incapacitate their magic before Natsu released them from the ice.

"And yet it took us a long time to defeat them and collect back everything they had taken. They were well trained and strong. Imagine being able to hold up against seven magic users without any magic at all."

Lucy slumped into her chair, reliving the climax of her fight as Levy grinned.

"So the lead saved you all." Levy remarked, a ghost of a smile playing on her lips. "And a good thing too. I'm glad you're back, Lucy. I missed you."

Lucy peered into Levy's eyes and smiled. "I'm glad to be back too. I want to make up for lost time."

They settled into a comfortable silence until Lucy spoke again.

"What was it like?"

"Huh?" Levy faced Lucy, not comprehending the question.

"The pregnancy." Lucy clarified. "What was it like? How did you handle it?"

Levy closed her eyes and breathed deeply before speaking.

"It was so hard." She whispered, just loud enough for Lucy to hear her. "Gajeel and I, we weren't in the best of financial situations to have a child, much less two. I couldn't use much magic after my first trimester and no one would let me on quests during my first 12 weeks.

"We were quite low on money. It solely became Gajeel's responsibility to earn enough for five people. Lily and he took quest after quest during the first seven months to make sure we had enough for the months following the delivery. Besides, Gajeel needed to find a bigger house for us all before I moved in with him and we couldn't afford to buy one. That left us with the heavy burden of rent every month.

"By the seventh month, Gajeel wouldn't let Lily accompany him on quests either. He told Lily to stay back with me in case I needed help.

"Juvia was a huge comfort during it all. She helped out a lot. She would go along with Gajeel and Lily on higher paying quests. Gajeel hasn't told me, but I know that she gave a larger part of the payment to Gajeel taking less for herself. She was also a regular visitor here, making sure that I was okay and had everything I need. She even helped with the nursery and bought us the cribs, insisting that it was her gift to the babies.

"Anyway, after all that hard work, we finally had enough to hold off for a while. Gajeel didn't take any more missions during the last month of gestation.

"And he hasn't taken up any quests till now, either."

Lucy listened carefully, feeling disappointed that she had not been present during Levy's time of need.

"But won't you need Gajeel around?" Lucy was curious. It was pretty evident that nobody knew how long the quest would last for.

"Oh Lucy, I will always need Gajeel around!" Levy laughed. "But I'm the one who convinced him to go."

"What?" Lucy gasped, shocked.

"I know that it sounds unreasonable." Levy spoke calmly. "But there were quite a few things to consider. First, there was the fact that Gajeel wanted to go on this quest because it involves Juvia. Then, there was the fact that Juvia had been a pillar of support for us during our hour of need. And finally, there's the fact that we want the money."

Lucy tilted her head to a side. "How much will they be paid?"

Levy answered, her voice hushed, "One and a half million Jewels per head."

Lucy felt as if the air was knocked out of her lungs. " **That** _much_?" she rasped, unable to believe her ears.

Levy nodded, face flushed.

"Wow." Lucy breathed, still in shock.

"We can buy a house and still have enough money for a few months worth of expenditure." Levy voiced her opinion. "And I won't be alone. Lily's here with me. And I have you guys too." She smiled warmly.

Lucy nodded in agreement, too moved to speak.

"Besides, they promised to be here for the twins' birthday." Levy said and Lucy found herself smiling.

Above them, the stars continued to twinkle.

* * *

Gray was sprawled across his jet black couch nursing a beer bottle, his head resting on his arm. He felt content to be back in familiar territory, where there was no threat or danger. Home was a good place to be.

He breathed slowly and heavily, taking another sip from the nearly empty bottle. The dark brown liquid sloshed vigorously inside, lining the bottle with drops of various sizes. A box lay open on the table in front of the seat, a few strands of leftover spaghetti clinging to its edges.

It was unfortunate that Gray was once again spending his returns from quests in his own company. During the year before the advent of his one year long quest, Juvia's house had been his stop after a quest on all days when she would be at home. She would tell him to take a shower while she cleaned his injuries and would dress them neatly after he was done bathing. He would then be fed with warm food and allowed to take a nap.

Gray sighed, knowing that there was no one and nothing to blame for his fallout with Juvia but himself. He regretted walking out on her that particular night, but he had been hurt by her words; hurt because it came from her, hurt because he knew it was true and hurt because he would leave again, if he had to.

The problem was that he had meant to be harsh with her when they had departed on their quest. He knew he had done wrong and that it was unforgivable to have pretended to not hear her apology. He had acted out of anger and childish impulse, having wanted to hurt her like she had hurt him the night before. And it was the cold and horrid realisation of this thought that kept haunting him for the time he was away.

A couple days into his journey, guilt had begun to claw at him. He had wanted to turn back and go home to Juvia and apologise and hold her and to just stay a while with her. But in that moment, he had also known that the quest was important and that his team needed him. He had stayed on, begrudgingly. In the course of his travel, he had considered the possibility of contacting Juvia somehow, to ease his heartache. But he had been held back by his own notion that Juvia deserved better than him. And in the end, he had succumbed to the voice in his head that kept telling him to let their relationship fall apart.

But that was not what his heart wanted.

Gray was a conflicted man and he was aware of it. He also knew that he was running out of chances with Juvia. He knew that he would be left behind if he didn't resolve to make up his own mind and act fast.

He had to talk to Juvia, regardless of the outcome. He owed her an apology and an explanation and, most importantly, the truth.

It killed him to know that he couldn't be as committed to a relationship between them as Juvia could do so effortlessly. Her affection and love scared him. The truth was that Juvia's love was the kind of love that Gray feared the most.

Gray Fullbuster, Ice Demon Slayer, was not scared of darkness or ghosts of his frightening past; he was scared of love that drove a person to kill themselves to save his life.

Gray closed his eyes firmly, settling into disturbing sleep.

* * *

 **A/N: I live for drama and breed drama. :")**

 **But on a serious note, I've always had a problem with Erza's directions to Gray during Alvarez Arc. And it sucks that we never got to see any closure from anyone's side. So yeah, my frustration gave birth to the scene between Erza and Juvia. A few of you guys had questions about Gajeel leaving on the quest. I hope that this chapter cleared any doubts.**

 **Btw, this is just day 1 of drama. Juvia has one more day before leaving for Phiri. Day 2 drama in Chapter 3.**

 **Thanks to everyone who reviewed, followed and gave a favourite to the story!**

 **~Ana**


	4. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

The dawn of Friday was marked by the specific absence of any resemblance to daytime; dark grey clouds covered every inch of the sky, sealing away the sun's rays behind them. Chilly winds were blowing all over Magnolia, forcing most residents to stay indoors. Early birds had retired to their beds at first sight of the overcast sky whereas people like Juvia, who had work to get done, were hastily making way to their desired destinations with umbrellas in hand.

Meredy, on the other hand, had left for the guild even before Juvia had woken up. She had left behind a written message to notify Juvia about her leaving though she had left out the reason as to why she had left so early.

Juvia quickened her pace when she felt a raindrop splatter against her shoulder. She hurriedly opened her umbrella, shielding herself from the downpour that followed. The droplets fell in thin lines as if they were an endless torrent of silver needles. Juvia could hear the roar of the winds and the heavy pitter-patter of the water drops which somehow fused into a glorious melody to her ears. She had recently grown to like the rain, and she revelled in the feeling of the cold that surrounded her as she approached the guild with water bouncing off her umbrella like fine mist.

She pushed a closed door open, bringing a spray of rain inside with her. She mumbled a half-hearted apology to no one in particular while she fumbled with her umbrella, closing it and placing it in its stand by the doors. She noticed that the guild was sparsely populated and smiled, amazed at the ability of a rainy day to keep people indoors.

However, her smile was quick to turn to a frown when she noticed that her pink-haired friend was nowhere to be seen. She glanced around till she spotted Kinana cleaning a table at the farthest end of the guild and made way towards her.

"Kinana, good morning!" She greeted with a smile, stopping a few steps behind her.

Kinana turned around and beamed at Juvia. "Morning, Juvia! You're quite early!"

Juvia nodded in agreement. "Yes. There's a few more things to sort out before we leave. But have you seen Meredy? She was supposed to be here by now."

"Oh yes. I saw her leaving with Jellal a little while before. But I don't know where they have gone." Kinana answered, her face taking on a worried expression as Juvia's features contorted into a semblance of uneasiness. "Juvia, are you okay?"

Juvia took in a shaky breath before replying. "Yes. Juvia's okay. Just a little queasy." She pinched herself and willed herself to calm down.

"Are you sure? Can I get you some water?" Kinana's forehead were scrunched up in concern and Juvia felt bad for lying. "No. It's alright." Juvia insisted, not wanting to let her fear slip out of hand. "Juvia just needs some air. She'll be back in a while."

Juvia turned on her heels and all but ran towards the doors, grabbed her umbrella and dashed into the heavy torrent.

* * *

Meredy winced at the sight of Jellal's face.

The whites of his eyes were the colour of blood, an indicator of his sleepless night. The dark bags under his eyes further pointed towards his lost slumber. And to top it all off, the hair that swept across his forehead cast a shadow that imparted a ghostly glow to the tattoo on his face. He looked tired and defeated and helpless, and these were feelings that Meredy did not like to associate with Jellal.

She was at a loss for words, unsure of how to comfort the broken remnant of the man in front of her. Both Erza and the nature of his relationship with her had always been complex subjects for Jellal, subjects that he had come to terms with over long periods of time and years of being away from her and dodging the law.

And while Meredy agreed that it was indeed unfortunate that Jellal had to leave on a mission just at the opportune moment when both Jellal and Erza were ready to fully commit to each other, she was furious that Erza was trying to force Jellal into staying.

"She was still crying when I left." Jellal muttered, his hands covering his face.

Meredy placed her hand on his shoulder, knowing that it was best to not use words to console him but to leave him to his thoughts.

They stood in their safe haven, sheltered from the raging rain by the pillar of the bridge that stood above them. Below them, a few steps away from the safe rock base they were standing on, the river raced by as if empowered by the unrelenting downpour.

"I don't know what's gotten into her." Jellal continued, struggling to be heard over the roar of the rain. "It's just another mission." He sighed.

"What are you going to do?" Meredy raised the question that had been haunting her ever since Jellal had told her about the dilemma with Erza. She knew better than anyone else that Erza was Jellal's priority.

Jellal grimaced as he looked Meredy in her eyes. "I'm a man of my word, Meredy." He managed a weak smile. "I accepted Juvia's request for help. And I am going to go through with it." He straightened his shoulders and pulled his cloak taut. "I leave with all of you tomorrow morning."

* * *

Juvia ran through the partially deserted streets of Magnolia in a frantic frenzy. Her objective was to reach Erza's small apartment as soon as she possibly could. She was glad that the rainfall had decreased in its intensity, allowing her to see her surroundings better. Juvia ran faster once she caught sight of the white building in which Erza lived. Water splashed underneath the soles of her boots, muddying the hem of her skirt. She carried on, slowing down only when she saw Meredy awkwardly pacing in front of the building, partly drenched from the rain.

"Meredy?" She called, blood rushing to her face at the thought of everything that could go wrong.

Meredy's head snapped up and her face broke into an expression of relief. "Juvia!" She exclaimed hugging the water mage as she came closer. "I'm so happy that you're here!"

Juvia shut her umbrella now that the rain was behind her. "What's going on?" Her panic was at a new high now that she knew Meredy was also involved.

Meredy bit her lip before speaking. "Erza doesn't want Jellal to go with us. She's been crying about it and giving him a hard time."

Juvia felt a pang of guilt.

"She asked Juvia to relieve Jellal off the quest." She whispered.

"What?!" Meredy's eyes widened in surprise. "When?"

"Yesterday."

"What did you say?"

"Juvia told her that she would not."

"Good."

Juvia was taken aback by the harsh tone of Meredy's voice. She raised an eyebrow at her and Meredy scowled in return. "There's an extent to which people can be unreasonable, you know." She crossed her arms and huffed.

Juvia leaned against the wall as she waited for Jellal to come out, groaning to herself as she thought of the long day that awaited her.

* * *

The Strauss siblings were sitting down for a scrumptious breakfast when Lisanna, the youngest of the trio, squealed in delight at the spread in front of her. She eyed the table with childlike glee, clapping her hands thrice upon seeing dishes of bacon, sandwiches, eggs, potatoes and sausages covering all the available space along with a tall jug filled with pineapple juice which was her favourite.

"So much food! Thanks guys!" She cheered as Mirajane and Elfman watched her with smiles on their faces.

Lisanna bit into a sandwich, knowing fully well that this was her family's way of seeing her off without having to actually tell her that this would be her last breakfast from home for quite a long period of time.

From the corner of her eye, she could see Elfman and Mira taking mouthfuls from their own plates.

She was also aware that the two would continue to pamper her throughout the day before giving her advice later at night and coming to the port at Hargeon the next morning to see her off. Lisanna knew that telling her goodbye was difficult for her siblings, who had lost her for so many years. She also knew that her departure from them was going to be filled with tears and hugs. But that was a problem for a different day.

For now, Lisanna would rejoice in the happy company of her family.

* * *

Cana Alberona was zipping up her suitcase of clothes when her eyes stuck on the brown teddy bear on her bed. The stuffed toy seemed out of place, especially against the bead curtains, the crystal ball, the dream-catcher, the empty alcohol bottles that were now decorated with strings and fairy-lights and the silk wall tapestry that adorned her room.

She gingerly took the bear into her hands, gazing at its beady eyes. Cana had never been a fan of stuffed toys. However, she had been speechless when Gildarts had gifted her the toy on the first birthday she had celebrated after the revelation that she was his daughter.

She still remembered the poorly wrapped box he handed her at night, much after the guild's usual wild party. Cana had had no use for the toy, but it became special when her father had told her that he had gotten her a stuffed toy because it was something every parent gave their child at some point, an act that Gildarts had been unable to perform because he had not known of his daughter's existence for many years.

From that night onwards, the bear had found a spot on Cana's bed and a special place in her heart. No one else knew it, but Cana slept holding on to that small plush toy every night. Staring fondly at the object in her hands, she grinned and placed it into her backpack; her father's first gift to her was going with her to Phiri.

* * *

Juvia and Meredy rose to their feet when they saw Jellal exit the building, his face stoic.

He turned to his side, heaving an exasperated sigh. "It's done." He frowned, slipping his hands into the pockets of his pants. "I've told her that my decision is to be a part of the quest."

Juvia looked at the ground beneath her feet, unable to believe that she had caused such a stir.

She was caught off-guard by a shadow that loomed across the ground. Startled, she looked up to see Jellal standing right in front of her.

"Don't." He spoke, a warning in his tone. "It's not your fault."

Juvia opened her mouth to contradict him, to tell him that she could have prevented this big of a blow-up between him and Erza if she had agreed to Erza's demands. But she was cut-off before the first word left her lips.

"I know what Erza asked of you and I know what you told her."

Juvia remained silent, allowing Jellal to continue.

"I understand and appreciate the way you stood up for yourself, your team and your quest. But I doubt that it was necessary to bring up both of your unfinished business in that regard. So while you're here, I think you should go up to her room and finish off that pending conversation."

Juvia flinched and nodded, well aware that Jellal was right.

"Then I suggest that you get to it."

Juvia wasted no time in speeding into the building and racing to Erza's abode.

* * *

Erza Scarlet was on the floor with her knees tucked behind her hands and her head resting on them. She'd fought a losing battle and lost bitterly, a battle that she regretted fighting. She knew that she had disgraced herself by asking Jellal to not go on his quest and that she had further insulted Juvia by asking her to relieve Jellal off the quest. But what was done was done and there was no way Erza could fix it.

Jellal had made it clear to her that he would be leaving. But what had really got to Erza was the disappointment and hurt in his eyes and his tone and his disbelief at the side of her that he was witnessing.

Erza was ashamed of herself for letting her feelings get the best of her and for reducing her rationality into an equivalent of nothing.

She continued to mop in the welling sense of dejection until she was distracted by the sound of a few gentle knocks on her door followed by a familiar blue head that was peeping through the gap in the doorway.

"Juvia." She murmured, unable to understand why Juvia had come to her home.

"May I come in?" Juvia didn't wait for an answer and instead walked inside, closing the door behind her.

Erza crossed her feet and waited for Juvia to settle down.

Juvia stood for a few seconds and then proceeded to seat herself on the floor, so that she was facing the redhead.

The lull of the silence between them was interrupted when Erza spoke.

"I'm sorry." She was glancing at the marbled floor, her eyes occasionally fluttering to Juvia's face.

She raised her hand in an attempt to prevent Juvia from speaking till she was done.

"I'm sorry for asking you to not take Jellal with you." She sucked in a deep breath before continuing. "But I'm also apologising for asking Gray to keep you in the dark regarding the Avatar mission. It wasn't right and I didn't think it through. I thought that keeping you uninformed was keeping you safe. I was wrong. I'm sorry."

Juvia's throat constricted at the reminder of her solitude.

"Juvia is sorry too." Juvia cleared her throat before continuing. "Juvia shouldn't have lashed out at Erza yesterday using thatas a leverage."

Erza hummed weakly and they settled into silence again. It was a while before Juvia spoke again, knowing that if she and Erza didn't clear the atmosphere then, they never would.

"Did Erza think that Juvia would be a hindrance to the Avatar mission?" She asked slowly.

Erza looked surprised. "No. Of course not."

"Then why did you request that Juvia be kept in the dark?"

Erza was in tears when she answered. "I thought that it was the best way to keep you out of trouble. Gray and I- we've done dangerous jobs for each other many times. And I had no idea about the capabilities or plans of the group that I wanted investigated. At the time, I thought that I was keeping you safe if you weren't involved. I didn't think of the emotional and mental repercussions that you would have to endure. Like I said, I was wrong.

"And it was horrible of me to never properly apologise to you. When I saw you being fine about the issue with Gray, I just assumed that things were okay between us as well." She paused and smiled, a pathetic expression on her face.

"Only, things were never okay. I didn't know that till yesterday, when you worded it out to me. I guess that makes me a bad friend."

"Erza..." Juvia's voice trailed off. She sighed loudly, recognising the honesty in Erza's words.

"Erza is not a bad friend." Juvia assured her, taking hold of Erza's hand. "Juvia should have been honest with Erza about how she felt. But she wasn't.

"But Juvia wants Erza to trust her more. Juvia is strong. Erza doesn't have to worry about keeping her safe."

Erza finally looked straight into Juvia's eyes.

"Juvia will keep her word to bring Jellal back safely."

Erza nodded meekly. "Will you forgive me, Juvia?"

"Only if Erza promises to not keep Juvia in the dark ever again."

"I'll do that if you promise to be completely honest with me as well." A smile was playing on Erza's lips as Juvia's face broke into a grin.

"Done!" Juvia chimed, clasping Erza's hand tightly.

"Then we have a deal." Erza smiled wide, finally feeling free.

Outside, the rain came to a halt.

* * *

It was noon by the time Juvia reached the guild after her meeting with Erza. She found Jellal and Meredy seated at a table along with Natsu and Lucy and Happy.

Jellal caught sight of her and smiled and Juvia returned the gesture, hoping that Jellal would take it as a sign that she and Erza had patched up. Her smile gradually disappeared as she remembered that she was yet to have a word with Gray. Shaking her head as if to force the ill feeling out, she walked towards Meredy and the others.

"Yo Juvia!" Happy was the first to greet her, diverting his attention from the half-eaten fish in his paws.

Juvia smiled and waved at the group before settling down next to Jellal. Natsu gave her a small salute and Lucy grinned at her.

"We were talking about the quest." Meredy informed her, leaning onto the table.

"We're coming to see you off tomorrow." Natsu spoke up and Juvia was pleasantly surprised.

"Really?" She was shocked to think that Natsu was willing to travel all the way to Hargeon in the early hours of twilight to see them off for a quest.

"Yup." Natsu leaned back and grinned. "You saw us off for our quest, remember? So we get to see you off for yours!" He laughed like his reasoning had been the most obvious one.

Juvia giggled while Lucy shook her head in disapproval. "What he means to say is that we ought to see you off especially since you will be gone for a while."

Jellal nodded while Meredy yawned and stretched. "It's just the journey that's going to take time." Meredy argued, tired of everyone claiming that their quest would take a long time. "Honestly. If anything, we're going too far for a quest."

"Agreed." Jellal stated and turned his attention to Juvia. "But it is both far and time consuming. Which is why we need to travel light. Right, Juvia?"

Juvia instantly caught the true meaning of his statement and blushed. She turned towards Lucy. "Do you know where Juvia can find Gray?"

"Gray?" Lucy repeated and thought for a second before shaking her head in denial. "Have you seen him, Natsu?"

Natsu shook his head and Juvia sighed. Her pending conversation with Gray seemed to be postponed once again.

* * *

It was tea-time by the time Juvia realised that unless she initiated the 'talk' with Gray, it would never happen. Having heard from the others that Gray hadn't come to the guild at all and having been assured that he wasn't on a quest either, she picked herself up from her seat and moved out of the guild waving to her friends. The only other place where he would be was his house and Juvia was certain that she would find him there.

The cool evening breeze was a comfort that Juvia was glad to indulge in as she made her way outside the guild and on to the streets of Magnolia.

Strolling through the path, she observed her surroundings in an attempt to etch them into her memory. Caught up in her musings, she was shocked when her shoulder was grabbed from behind her.

"Juvia." The voice was rough but low.

Juvia turned back and found herself face to face with the person she had been looking for.

"Gray." She said, the look of surprise vanishing from her face.

He tugged at the collar of his shirt, looking uncomfortable. "We need to talk."

"Okay." She breathed as she began following Gray. Juvia felt uneasy, unsure of how to tell him of her decision to give him an ultimatum.

Struggling to phrase her thoughts in her mind, she almost bumped into Gray once he had stopped at the river bank.

The pair stood side by side in awkward silence staring at the gushing river.

"I'm sorry." He finally mumbled, eyes focused on the water in front of him.

Juvia didn't reply for a while, thinking over his apology. She eyed her surroundings, realising that the river bank was a particularly fond spot for quite a few members of Fairy Tail when they were feeling down.

She thought back to the endless number of times that she had come there, heart hurting and head spinning. She thought of the number of times she had sat next to Lisanna listening to her complaints about her lack of magical skill. She remembered the days she had seen Erza sit there, wiping her tears. She remembered all the midnights Gajeel spent there, afraid of his nightmares. She thought of all the hurt and pain and anger and resentment this bank had seen and in a second she spoke loudly, surprising herself.

"Being sorry is not going to make things better between us."

She turned her head to face Gray as he snapped his own to meet her eyes.

He clenched his jaw, a habit that let Juvia knew that he was getting increasingly nervous.

She decided to strike.

"You either want to stay with Juvia or you don't." She crossed her arms over her chest, her eyes brimming with tears that she forced herself to not shed. "So which is it?"

The tears soon fell and Gray came closer, a palm raised to wipe the water streaming down her cheeks only for Juvia to pull her face away from the upcoming contact.

Gray gave up trying to soothe her and slipped his hands into his pockets.

"Listen," he began, taking a step back, "I meant it when I said I'm sorry. It's just that I'm scared th-"

"No!" Juvia raised her voice, accusation filling her tone, leaving him shocked. "You listen to me! You wanted more time because you were scared and I gave it! Well guess what? Your fears are not helping!"

Irritated, Gray attacked her right back. "Damn it, Juvia! Why can't you just listen to me for a second?" He took a step forward, agitated with rage. "I'm trying to conquer them, okay? I'm trying to change things around so that things will be better!"

"You're not trying hard enough!" Juvia retorted, clenching her fists.

"Oh! So now I'm not good enough for you?"

"Don't twist what Juvia said!"

"You're the one who says things you shouldn't say!"

"You're the one who leaves without even a word!"

Juvia's final line pissed Gray off worse.

"And you want us to break up over that?" He sneered, his lips settling into a thin line.

Juvia's answer caught both of them off-guard, leaving both mages with wide eyes while Juvia clasper her hands over her mouth in utter surprise at what she had finally blurted out loud, the ugly truth that she'd tried to fool herself into thinking was a lie.

"That's exactly what Juvia wants."

* * *

 **A/N: Ta-da!**

 **Look who finally updated!**

 **I was caught up with driving lessons and thankfully I passed the driving test. So yay!**

 **Pretty unexpected breakup, right? How was the Meredy and Jellal Brotp? And the Juvia and Erza scene? And the family moments of Cana and Lisanna? And of course, any thoughts on future Jerza and Gruvia?**

 **Till we meet again!**


	5. Chapter 4

**Chapter 4**

* * *

Gajeel Redfox sniffed the air in his backyard with suspicion.

His nose was extremely good at recognising smells. For instance, at that particular moment he was able to distinguish the stink of burnt eggs from his neighbour's house from that of the garbage rotting across the street. But there was an additional smell in the atmosphere that Gajeel realised was unnatural.

He didn't want to brag, but he was the only person who had the ability to differentiate the smell of natural rain and that of Juvia's rain. Looking up at the orange sky of the evening, Gajeel could see the rain clouds thickening. It was nothing that could cause a storm, but enough to let Gajeel know that his best friend was trying her hardest to stop another downpour. He frowned, wondering what had upset her.

Contrary to what a lot of their other friends believed, Juvia wasn't of a frail heart. And Gajeel knew this about her from their time together at Phantom Lord; certain things that no one else knew about. He knew that she could suffer a great deal without letting anyone else know.

Gajeel sighed and shook his head in sympathy.

He turned around and peeked through the window into his kitchen, where Levy was dozing off at a table. As much as he wanted to be assured that Juvia was fine, tonight would be his last chance for some family time until the quest was over.

Finally, Gajeel walked into his home deciding that he'd talk to Juvia about whatever was bothering her aboard the ship the next day.

* * *

Lisanna Strauss loved star gazing.

She had been slightly worried when grey clouds had formed in the evening, but thankfully they had disappeared before nightfall. She felt grateful for her luck as she sat on her beanbag next to her bedroom window staring at the sky with a mug of warm milk in her hands.

The shimmer of the stars across the night sky was a much needed soothing sensation to her.

Lisanna had never been one to be asked for dangerous or long missions. She figured that it had mostly to do with her assumed 'death' a few years earlier, when she had been sucked into a parallel universe, only for her brother to believe that he had killed her and for her sister to believe that she had failed to protect her.

After she had finally returned to her own world, she was quick to realise that she was lagging behind all of her childhood friends when it came to both her magic skills and her physical strength. The world of Edolas had required her to hide her magic, resulting in her power and skill not improving.

She had tried to improve ever since she returned, pushing herself to her limits. The process had made her physically strong, but the story with her magic was completely different. Even though her magic had gotten stronger, there was only so much that she could do with her animal soul takeover magic. She had even begun to feel silly for having chosen to learn animal soul takeover from the many other options that she had been presented with.

She felt awful at times for feeling that way because, in all honesty, she did love her takeover form. It was just that there were times when she wished she could do something more with her magic than just supplement a fight. She was tired of being forced to watch, helpless as her siblings took on formidable foes who used Lisanna as nothing more than a bait to lure her stronger siblings into fights.

In addition to this, her confidence and self-esteem had reached a whole new level of low when she had realised that her brother had almost destroyed the guild in a desperation to protect her.

Lisanna wanted to be stronger, to be the one who could protect than be the one who was protected.

This deep set wish was what encouraged her to accept Juvia's request for her help. She was more surprised than elated when she had been asked and had agreed right away.

Lisanna knew better than anyone else that this was her chance to achieve what she had always dreamed of.

* * *

Cana Alberona was busy clearing the dining table after an unusually quiet dinner with her father when she was called into the parlour.

Setting the dishes back down on the table, she made her way into the room where Gildarts was already seated. Catching her eye, he pointed at the chair facing him and waited for her to settle down as well.

It was a long time before Gildarts finally spoke.

"Cana." His voice echoed against the walls of the room, adding depth to his words.

Gildarts rose from his chair and walked towards her, stopping right in front of her. Cana looked up at his face quizzically, only to see him pull out a small package from his pockets that he began to unwrap in his hands.

When he was done, Cana was surprised to see his hands tremble as he picked up the object in the package. She was very confused by the foreign object that was now dangling from his fingers, a short gold chain with a cylindrical jade pendant.

She opened her mouth to question him, but her voice drained as his hands suddenly moved to each side of her neck. Cana paled as she realised that he was adorning her with the necklace.

When he moved back at last, he stood a few steps away from her, pointedly staring at the necklace that now rested in between her collar bones, a nostalgic smile on his face and eyes glossy.

"Dad?" Cana finally found her voice to spit out a word as her brain struggled to comprehend why Gildarts had given her a necklace.

"It's your mother's."

He whispered, a sense of longing in his voice.

In the blink of an eye, Cana brought the tips of her fingers to touch the little green pendant. She felt herself become light headed as she glanced at her father.

"But she didn't have anything of value when she…", Cana felt the tears prick at her eyes and quickly faced the floor.

"Maybe." Gildarts spoke again, his voice soft and calming. "But she gave me this as a talisman for good luck."

He cleared his throat before continuing.

"I've been meaning to pass it down to you for quite a while now. But something tells me that now is the time."

Cana clutched the chain tighter as her shoulders trembled violently with her loud sobs. She soon felt her father's arms around her, his chin resting atop her head.

"I have only loved two women in my life Cana. One is your mother; the other is you." He mumbled, holding her closer.

Cana wrapped her arms around her father, tears of joy and sorrow disappearing against the warmth of love that she felt.

* * *

Jellal lay on the comfortable mattress on Erza's bed, with her snuggled against him.

It was a relief that they could lay together in peace, considering all that had happened earlier that day.

He agreed that it was indeed a pity that he had to leave on a quest at the precise moment of Erza's return, but he also knew better than to be dismayed by it.

Jellal believed in the little pleasures of life and he was currently content to be next to Erza, in their own safe haven.

He sighed as he realised that his sense of safety wouldn't last for long.

Although he had not told any one else, Jellal had had a bad feeling clawing at his gut ever since he had received word earlier that evening from his guild mate, Sorano, about her findings after an intensive research that she had conducted at his behest.

If what Sorano had found was true, Jellal had reason to believe that Juvia was in danger.

As he shook his head and closed his eyes to test if sleep would come, he once again heard Sorano's voice in his mind.

" _Phiri's lack of rain is a powerful curse, Jellal. It's nature is such that it can only be lifted by the caster of the curse. If anyone else tries to lift it… well, there's going to be repercussions. Just be careful, okay? Especially Juvia. She stands at the highest risk because of the nature of her magic. Any damage to her may be permanent. And when I say permanent damage, Jellal, I mean the worst kind."_

* * *

Meredy and Juvia were laying on a bed facing each other while Juvia told the former about her dilemma with Gray.

"Did you mean it when you said that you wanted to break up?" Meredy questioned, her eyes filled with sympathy.

Juvia nodded slowly. "Juvia's been thinking about it for a little while, to be completely honest."

The revelation caught Meredy by surprise. "Really?"

"Yeah." Juvia affirmed, blankly staring ahead. "Juvia just never thought that she would tell him that. Mostly because she herself couldn't believe that this is what she wanted."

Meredy gave a sad smile in response.

"But it's okay." Juvia sighed, absent-mindedly twirling a lock of hair between her fingers. "Juvia thinks...no. She _knows_ that we need space. This is for the best. Juvia can feel it."

Meredy reached for her friend's hand and clasped it in her own, offering a gentle squeeze of comfort and encouragement.

The pair soon welcomed sleep.

* * *

When Saturday morning came, the mages of Fairy Tail had presented themselves in the port town of Hargeon before the sun had risen.

Juvia stared in awe at the large ship that was anchored at port, the ship that was meant to help them travel out of Fiore. She had heard stories of ships having figures carved onto the front, but even stories could not have prepared her for the beautiful metallic figure that adorned the royal ship of Phiri. Right at the front of the ship was a majestic carving in metal of a woman embraced by a demon, a dragon at their feet.

She took a sharp breath as she realised how deeply the Water Trinity was woven into the existence of Phiri and felt a chill running down her spine, remembering Jellal's warning to her earlier that morning.

" _Sorano thinks you may die."_

She wondered if Sorano's assumption was correct, if she would ever see Magnolia again. But Juvia had never been the kind of person who denied help out of fear for herself. She was determined to go, and she suddenly caught herself thinking that her determination might lead to her undoing.

The longer she stared at the ship, the heavier the weight upon her shoulders felt.

She was distracted from her growing tension by a hand on her shoulder. Turning around, she saw Lisanna smiling at her. "It'll be okay." She whispered, as if she had read Juvia's mind.

Looking behind Lisanna, Juvia could easily spot her guild mates who had taken the trouble to come see them off. She saw Natsu and Happy, who were in deep conversation with Gajeel, Lily, Levy and the twins. A little behind them was Mirajane, Laxus, Elfman and Evergreen. Freed and Bixlow were engaged in conversation with Lucy and Wendy, while Erza stood right next to Jellal. Meredy was a few steps away from them, talking to the all too familiar platinum blond, Lyon. But the person who caught Juvia's eye was Gray, who stood the furthest away from the group that had gathered.

She was momentarily surprised that he had come at all, especially after they had ended things the way they had. He seemed to be blankly staring at her, and Juvia wondered at the cruel irony of their situation; of her being the one unable to forgive before leaving on a long quest.

She shook her head in an attempt to clear her thoughts. She smiled back at Lisanna and excused herself as she made way towards Gajeel.

However, she was interrupted by the loud sound of a bell, a sign for her and her team to board the ship for departure.

It was followed by a quick scuffle of feet, short hugs and kisses and red eyes.

By the second bell, the team members had lined themselves on deck, facing the port, ready to wave farewell to their families and friends.

The third bell drowned out the shouts of the Fairy Tail members aboard the ship as the anchor was lifted and sweet words were thrown overboard to the waiting mages below.

As the ship began to move, Juvia spun around at the familiar call of her name.

"Juvia!"

Her eyes widened at the sight of Gray standing at the brink of the port, hands in his pockets as always.

The next words that flew out of his mouth would forever be etched into her memory.

"I'll be waiting! And when you come back, I'm staying."

The winds picked up, and the ship sailed into the horizon.

* * *

 **A/N: Namaste!**

 **It's been a really long time now and I genuinely apologise for the delay. Final year of college has me worked up, not to mention my fallout with a couple of the younger teachers. Life is rough at the moment, and being a research student kills me slowly. I will try for another update on October 3rd.**

 **This chapter was short and slow, but I believe that it is integral for all these moments of farewell to be included so that you as readers can know what each character aspires for, as well as the external responsibilities they have. Their predicaments and circumstances will prove important in the future.**

 **Until the next update,**

 **XOXO**

 **-Anahgem**


	6. Chapter 5

**A/N: And I'm back again. Let's say life happened. But on the bright side, I'm home for a 4-month long vacation from college, and that seems to provide me a lot of time to invest in stories. And onward.**

* * *

 **Chapter 5**

26 nights and 27 days had passed aboard the ship when the team of mages finally received the good news that their journey was coming to an end on the evening of that twenty-seventh day. The journey from Fiore to Phiri was taking much longer than any of them had anticipated and it had begun to bother them tremendously, especially since the crew had rerouted their path more than once. Jellal had volunteered to find out why they had had to change routes, only to be met with uncomfortable glances from the crew and silence from their captain, Kehsir.

Even though they enjoyed the time on the ship, it wasn't as if they could pretend it was a cruise. Most of their time during the day was spent trying to get information regarding Phiri as well as its 'curse'. Some days were productive; the same couldn't be said for most days. Jellal, Meredy, and Lisanna had spent a lot of time cooped up in the ship's library, going through book after book hoping to find even a small hint of some sort of a reason as to why it would stop raining in a country where geological factors made such a phenomenon theoretically impossible. The answers, were however not in the books the teams were depending upon, and Juvia was fast losing hope of knowing enough to do anything to help the country. Yet, the presence of her friends and their perseverance gave her the motivation she needed to keep going.

After the first week, it quickly became evident that the only people who still enjoyed the journey were Juvia and Lisanna. For Juvia, it was more about being in her element than anything else, and for Lisanna it was about the multiple sea creatures that she had, to everybody else's awe, become friends with.

Meredy, Jellal, and Gajeel despised the sea journey and Gajeel made it a point to let everyone know that he hated it by mentioning it every other day. Juvia was thankful to Porlyurisca in this regard for the potent potion she had supplied the team as an antidote to Gajeeel's motion sickness. Had it not been for that, Juvia was sure that Gajeel's tirade of complaints would have been worse. Cana, on the other hand, wasn't too bothered by having to stay on the ship, but she had also made it clear that she would prefer to be on dry land.

It was only when books failed them that Cana suggested that they try talking to the crew members to gather intel. That plan had fallen apart before they had even embarked on it, when the crew quickly made it evident that they were as useless as the books; they knew nothing, except that the rain had stopped and along with it, their queen's magic power had disappeared, though the latter part was only a speculation without any proof.

"This is getting us nowhere!" Meredy had complained one day, after an entire afternoon of grumbling about slow progress. "At this point, we might as well go back."

"Can't be sure of that." Gajeel had replied, picking his nails. "If their information about all this is something that would threaten their security as a country, of course, no one would know about it."

And this had made perfect sense. If Phiri had enemies, their current vulnerable state was one that could easily be taken advantage of with the right information. In that case, the lack of information could most probably be a tactic to prevent unnecessary trouble. And that by default meant that their best bet of getting an accurate idea regarding the state of affairs lay inside the country, specifically within the palace walls. They would have to wait until then.

* * *

"Finally!" Cana cheered at the prospect of being able to be on land again. "I was starting to think that we would never reach this place!"

Juvia smiled at the small group in front of her, seated around a table. Everyone except Gajeel was currently involved in a game of cards where luck seemed to only favour Cana or Meredy. For the first few games, Gajeel had complained that the two women were cheating with their magic. Meredy, of course, had taken great offense to the statement and called Gajeel a sore loser, only for him to be laughed at by all his opponents, which had finally marked the end of his participation in their game.

Juvia rather enjoyed observing her teammates in quaint moments like these. She could make out the small smile on Jellal's face as he played a game he knew he was going to lose, but was playing for the fun of it. Meredy, on the other hand, was deeply engrossed, with her eyebrows scrunched together, trying to figure out the best move. Juvia could spot Lisanna's pupils dart at each and every move played, and it was evident that she was trying her best to defeat by observing and learning the trick. Cana was extremely relaxed on the surface, but her impatience did not go unnoticed; her fingernails would rhythmically tap the table throughout the game, and her pace of tapping would increase at very specific moments. Gajeel was the only one slumping in his chair, a scowl etched on his face.

"Don't sit like that, Gajeel." Juvia tried to cheer him up. "It's just a game."

"The hell it is." He mumbled in reply, his scowl deepening, causing Juvia to sigh in resignation.

"But seriously though," Lisanna said, dropping another card as Cana swore. "Why did they take so many detours? We should have reached Phiri days ago according to the first travel plan. Why prolong it then?"

There was silence for a minute before Jellal spoke up. "Maybe something happened. Bad weather predictions could be a reason."

"No way," Juvia said, picking up Cana's discarded card. "If a storm was brewing, Juvia would have felt it. We're at sea. This is where Juvia is strongest."

"True," Meredy said, eyes searching for the card to lose. "Maybe there were other problems. Like pirates."

"Now that's believable," Cana said, playing her final hand. "I won again, bitches! Woohoo!"

A collective groan rose from the group, motivating Gajeel to guffaw at the misery of the others.

Pushing aside the cards, Juvia leaned on to the table, her eyebrows scrunched together. She was apprehensive about pirates, especially since the routes that they had been taking were not trade routes.

Juvia was certain that the issue was more grave than a case of pirates, and was determined to find out the truth behind the matter.

* * *

Stars dotted the black sky as the crescent moon cast an ominous glow in the shallow waters as the ship dropped anchor at the port.

The crew was busy gathering supplies to get off the ship and Kehsir had excused himself to ensure that the preparations for the remaining journey by carriages were in place without delays. But as the mages stepped off the dock they were immediately greeted with the stink of fish.

The seven mages looked at one another, confusion overtaking all other senses. Sayaro was, according to their research, a bustling port town with shops of merchants from various parts of the continent selling their wares, ranging from local delicacies to expensive and fine works of craftsmanship. The sight in front of them was, however, that of a run-down fish market, with sellers closing up for the night, feeding leftover fish to the stray animals lingering about.

"Maybe we're on the wrong side of Sayaro?" Lisanna broke the silence, nervously laughing as she looked around for anything that might resemble her vision of Sayaro.

"Pardon my intrusion, but I believe you are not in Sayaro at all."

The mages focused their attention on the newcomer who seemed to be in his mid 20's. The young mas facing them was dressed in a loose button-down white shirt and khaki pants and had cropped hair the colour of copper sulphate. As he stepped closer, Cana noticed his clear green eyes as well as his tan skin. Gajeel however, had decided to pay closer and careful attention to the sheathed sword that hung on his left waist, while Jellal studied the locket on his necklace, the royal symbol.

"My apologies for not introducing myself." He chuckled, having caught Jellal in the act of staring at his neck.

"I am Prince Arden Jasper De Luna, and you are in the village of Warala."

Silence settled amongst them, the mages unsure of how to react to the presence of the Prince. After a few moments of awkwardness, Meredy spoke.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Prince Arden. We're..."

"Prince Jasper."

"Huh?"

"I prefer to be called Prince Jasper."

"Oh."

"Well," Meredy continued, ignoring Gajeel's snicker from behind her. "We're the Fiorean mages here for the mission."

"That was obvious."

Meredy felt her eyebrow twitch from exasperation. Though she had only known the prince for a few minutes at most, she was certain of his royal status; _a royal pain in the ass,_ she concluded, clenching her teeth.

"As delighted as I am that you are finally here, I am afraid that we will need to make haste and leave. Where are your possessions?"

"Our things have already been loaded onto the carriages by the crew," Juvia answered this time. "We're only waiting for Kehsir. He's just gone to make sure that everything's in order."

"Ah, about that." The prince stepped forward, closing the distance between him and the mages and whispered, his voice devoid of humour and emotion. "Kehsir has been placed under arrest for charges of treason."

* * *

 **A/N: Short chapter, I know. I'm just working my creative side again. The rest will hopefully be longer and better. But why is Kehsir under arrest?**


	7. Chapter 6

**Chapter 6**

* * *

The ride to the palace was deafeningly silent. All dialogue amongst the mages had ceased the moment they had step foot inside their assigned carriage and the silence inside was amplified by the loudness of carriage wheels and horse hooves against the road.

Juvia was still in denial of the fact that Kehsir had been a traitor. The man had not seemed to be dangerous at all. Rather, he had proved to be very hospitable most of the time. Kehsir had indeed been a great captain, and Juvia had been in awe of how well he took care of his crew. In fact, Cana had told her that he reminded her of her father, with the way he mingled with his crew. For Juvia and the others, it was hard to picture that confident and friendly man as a wicked traitor.

On the other hand, their information came from a prince whom they had interacted with for a mere moment or two. However, the prince was _the prince_ and he was the one who had hired the mages in the first place, leaving them little room to actually not believe him, though they could vouch for Kehsir. But on second thoughts, none of them could truly trust Kehsir either. They'd known him for just a few weeks, and for all they knew, he could have been putting up a face. There was also the fact that he had indeed changed the course of their journey multiple times without any necessary cause. The issue had left a new problem, the one regarding whom to trust.

In the midst of her internal dilemma, she found her thoughts wandering back to their encounter with the prince of Phiri.

" _What do you mean by 'arrested for treason'?" Lisanna was the first to come out of the shock, a scowl on her face, a sign that she was clearly annoyed._

 _The prince shifted his weight from one foot to the other and had the decency to look ashamed. "I apologise for the lack of foresight from our part." He bowed a little to emphasise his regret. "But it seems that Kehsir had been led astray by a very dangerous and extremist philosophy." He ruffled his hair and sighed. "There is no easy manner to say this, but he was put in charge of delivering all of you to the cult that he is a follower of."_

" _A cult?" Jellal was intrigued, momentarily dismissing the danger that had narrowly missed him._

" _Yes. They worship the same deities as us, The Water Trinity, but…, let me just say that their methods to bring the rain back involve human sacrifices. I would love to tell you more about them, but it will be better if you are all rested before we speak of them again."_

 _The disbelief at the revelation was evident upon the faces of the assembled mages. Juvia scrunched her nose in disgust whereas Cana let out an audible sound of her repulsion. The prince paused, waiting for a response. When no one spoke, he continued._

" _You see, Kehsir's forefathers believe that this lack of rain is punishment for some grave sin that the royal family has committed._

" _Now, I can guarantee you that we have done nothing to cause such a catastrophic disaster. However, they disagree and have succeeded in converting quite a large number of citizens and pitting them against the rest of the kingdom._

" _I had been unaware of Kehsir's association with the cult until a week ago when he first changed the course of the ship. Every time my guards came close to your location at sea, he continued to change course. Following their final course, we realised that they would arrive at one of five possible ports. I had men stationed at all five ports. Intuition told me that you would be brought here though. And I am glad that we have found you here."_

" _So what happens now?" Juvia asked, staring into the tired eyes of the prince._

 _He took in a deep breath and raised his hand to his face, pressing his fingers to his forehead. "Well, for now, we will take you to our capital city and let you rest up. We shall talk more after that."_

' _And you'll tell us why they wanted us then?" Meredy asked, unable to digest that she was almost kidnapped._

 _The clear green eyes of the prince looked straight into Meredy's own, and for a second she felt as if he had seen right through her deepest secrets._

" _I shall tell you_ everything _then."_

As much as the new information pieced together the mystery of their long journey, there were still many things that did not make sense to Juvia.

Her mind was riddled with questions. Why had this cult, whatever their objective be, dragged foreigners into their schemes? Was it because she and her friends were considered worthy to be human sacrifices to appease the Trinity and bring rain? Or was it their magic that the cult wanted? And why had they hatched such a pointless and obvious plan if they had truly wanted the mages in their custody?

Each passing second saw the formation of a new question in her mind, a fleeting thought that provided no comfort or answers, but only looming fear of uncertainty.

And as fear lulled her into the realm of dreams, Juvia's final thought was of cold mugs of chilled latte.

* * *

 _Screams._

 _All around was a pool of crimson, oozing out from humanoid figures, charred beyond recognition._

 _Fear._

 _In front, a man laying on the ground his hand outstretched as if he was pleading for something. The sight of him kept getting bigger until the scene changed and it was only muddy ground._

 _A child crying in the distance for its mother and just then, the sensation of a hand on the right shoulder._

 _Behind, deep blue eyes staring into the soul._

Juvia jostled awake with little beads of water across her face and neck, gasping for air that she had not been aware that she had been deprived off. Placing her hands on either cheek, she breathed in and out until her breathing was stabilised and looked around, remembering that she was in the royal carriage with her friends, on her way to Tassim.

It was a new moon night and the interiors of her ride were dim, the only light coming from an oil lantern that hung outside the door. She quickly glanced around to ensure that all of her friends were asleep, and pulled out her chain-watch to check for the time.

 _3:09._

Though she was craving to taste sleep again, the hellish dream that she had prevented her from closing her eyes again. The images had been very vivid; the blood, the gore, the eyes.

 _The eyes._

Juvia felt a shudder run down her spine, sending goosebumps along the rest of her body. The eyes had been the most startling image out of the series of horror that she had seen, not because of the emotions that welled in those dark irises, but because of its striking familiarity.

The deep blue eyes that had haunted her dream that night were the very same ones that stared back at her every time she looked in a mirror.

* * *

It was still dark outside when the carriage came to a halt. Juvia, who had been awake since her nightmare, gazed through the glass on the door only to be met with the silhouettes of trees.

 _A forest?_ She wondered, eyes trained outside, watchful for danger.

The only sound around was that of the cry of crickets. Juvia patiently waited for the carriage to move again, hopeful that the abrupt stop was a mere break to accommodate nature's call. Her expectation was crushed when they remained stationary even after what seemed to be a good ten minutes. Steeling her nerves, Juvia pushed down the handle of the carriage door, creaking it open.

A blast of cold air hit her face as she stepped out slowly, looking around for threats. Closing the door behind her, she made her way near the pair of majestic white horses that were attached to the carriage and immediately saw that the riders had disappeared. She lifted her arm and placed her palm against the muzzle of one of the horses and it neighed a little, pushing its head into her hands. She touched her forehead to the horse before turning her head to the right and noticed two figures a few steps ahead of her, one crouching on the ground and the other standing. Unable to identify the people in front, she created strands of swirling water in her right palm and grabbed a lantern that had been left in the rider's seat and took careful steps forward.

"Who is it?" Her gentle voice carried itself like a clear brook in the night air, prompting the figures to jump, before turning back to meet her eye-to-eye.

Now closer, the faint glow of the lamp illuminated the features of the two men in front of her, whom she was thankfully able to identify as their missing riders.

"Ah, miss…?" The man who had been crouched on the ground stood up, searching his memory for her name.

"Juvia." She supplied, calling back the magic that had been pulsing in her hands.

"We can't go no further, miss Juvia. Bad omen." His voice shivered, reminding Juvia of the rustle of leaves during an autumn breeze.

"What happened?" She asked, finally noticing the lump on the ground, partially hidden from her view, behind the two men.

Curiosity gaining over rationality, she bent forward, her free arm stretching out to pull the white rag that was covering the object of her interest.

"Miss, don't touch it!"

The warning came too late, and in the span of a fraction of a moment between the rag being pulled off and her mind registering the sight in front of her eyes, Juvia found herself looking into the brown eyes of young girl lying on that path, bled to death from the slit on her throat.

Juvia had never screamed louder than then.

* * *

Gajeel awoke from peaceful slumber to the sound of a shrill scream that caused waves of fear within his heart and ripples of pain in his sensitive ears.

Jumping in his seat, he quickly glanced around him, feeling less wary with the disoriented face of each teammate staring at each other, the rush of adrenaline visible on their faces.

"Juvia!" He shouted in a moment, realising that she was not where he had seen her last. Smelling her nearby, he pushed open the door with brute force and jumped out, the others following suit. Running into the cold night, panic overtook his senses when he saw Juvia on her knees, her hair whipping in the wind. "Juvia!" He shouted again, louder this time. She turned back at the call, looking straight into his eyes. "Gajeel.", her voice was barely a whisper and she seemed terrified, while the men standing next to her looked more scared than she did.

When Gajeel reached her, he saw what it was that had elicited the reaction from her. His own breath caught in his throat, and he almost gagged from the smell of the corpse.

"What is this supposed to mean?" The angry demand came from Jellal, and when Gajeel turned his head to look at him, Jellal's eyes were red with rage. "Who did this?" He was yelling then, grabbing one of the two riders by his collar.

"I don't know sir!" He cried, tears rolling down his eyes. "It must be them! The ones who want you dead!"

"Jellal, you're scaring him." Meredy placed her hand on his shoulder, preventing him from further accosting the man. Her eyes were filled with an expression of concern. "Let him go."

The anger did not drain from him even as he let go of the man, who fell to the ground sobbing louder.

"We're waiting for the prince." The other rider spoke up, breaking the angry silence that seemed to surround them like a thick fog on winter mornings.

"Where is he?" Cana asked eyebrow raised. She thought it strange that the prince was not with them, considering that he had taken the trouble to come meet them on their arrival at some place that no one was sure of.

"A few paces behind us. Me and Sook, we sped up because the prince wanted you to get to Tassim as fast as possible. Now that we have stopped, they should reach us in about half an hour more."

Cana grumbled and slumped onto the ground, arms crossed. With the news that they were going to be stranded with a corpse, Jellal barged away from the crowd with Meredy following him closely. In the meantime, Lisanna helped Juvia to her feet and moved her away from the body in front of her.

Gajeel, however, remained rooted in his spot even after Juvia was led away.

"Gajeel." Lisanna called, her voice laced with worry. "Come away."

"Give me a minute." He said, crouching on his feet to get a better look at the body.

Gajeel was no expert, but there were a few things that hit him as he sat crouching by the body, staring at the pale skin of the girl. By the smell emanating from it, he was fairly sure that the girl had been dead for at least a few hours. But what really bothered Gajeel was the lack of any other smell in that forest. He was sure that the girl had been killed in the same spot that she was found in because of the lack of any sort of tracks around the area. If the body had been carried, there would definitely be marks on the ground from man or thing that would have carried her. But there was no smell of man or animal or thing around him and that baffled him even more. Slowly, a thought crept into his mind, one that could explain the strange phenomena. He looked at the face of the girl once more, mourning a little over her death. Suddenly horrified by the open eyes, Gajeel gently pulled down her eyelids, closing her eyes. Grunting, he then stood up and went to the riders, interrupting the upset ramblings of the one that had been introduced as Sook.

"Listen, I need to know a few things. Can ya help?"

The other rider turned away from the crying one and looked up at Gajeel.

"What do you want to know?"

"Is this a commuter's path?" Gajeel's question to the rider did exactly what Gajeel had expected it to do. The rider turned stiff before returning to normal. After a few beats of silence, he sighed and then spoke. "No."

"Then what is it?"

There was a longer pause before an answer.

"It's a pathway only meant for the royal family and palace officials. It's guarded on both sides by armed guards. Laymen can't enter or exit."

"And I assume that this entire route was secured before we came?"

The rider hung his face down. "Yes." He mumbled, his voice as small as he was feeling.

"That clears it up then." Gajeel said, sauntering off to check on Juvia and Jellal, both of whom who had seemed to take the situation the hardest.

When he reached Juvia, however, he saw that she was in disturbed sleep, her head resting on Lisanna's lap. Lisanna was sitting on the ground, her back resting against the trunk of a tree.

"She cried herself to sleep." Lisanna spoke, noticing his eyes upon Juvia's face. "Though, I think she'll be better once she wakes up. At least, I hope so." She said, tucking a stray strand of hair behind her ear.

"Me too." Gajeel said, though he knew full well that Juvia's recovery would take more than just sleep. In fact, he was fairly certain that all of their recoveries would take more than just sleep. "How's Jellal doing?"

"I'm not sure, but Meredy's staying with him. They're behind the carriage."

"And Cana?"

"She said she was feeling weird and went inside."

Gajeel nodded in understanding. "I'll go check on them then." He turned on his heels, walking towards where Lisanna had told him he would find Jellal and Meredy.

As he was passing by the carriage his ears picked up a faint noise that sounded like gasp to him. Turning his head to look through the glass on the door, he saw Cana on her knees with her hands pressing down on the seats.

"Cana?" he said, pulling the door open as she turned to meet his gaze.

Bloodshot eyes stared back at him.

* * *

Jellal was seething with fury.

He paced up and down with his arms crossed over his chest, mumbling incoherently under his breath. Once in a while, Meredy could hear one word, or if she was lucky, an entire phrase such as _'those damn bastards'_.

Jellal's current temperament greatly frightened Meredy because he was known to keep his calm even in the worst of situations. Jellal was a fast thinker. He could analyse problems even in the middle of a heated battle and successfully solve them, baffling the enemy. Meredy had grown to admire Jellal's patience and wisdom over the years and had become so close to him that she knew him like the back of her hand. It upset her to have to see him so angry, because it reminded her of her earlier years in life when she herself had been hurt and angry to the point that it led her to believe that the pain and anger were more important than even life.

As the image of the dead girl filled her mind once more, she closed her eyes and took a deep breath. When she opened them again, she was looking at Jellal once more. The dead girl was a reminder to Meredy; a reminder of her mission as a member of her nomadic guild, Crime Sorciere. She had seen death and malice, experienced baseless hate and though she was able to enter a new chapter in life devoid of these, she knew that there were many people less successful than her in adapting to a life of joy and peace. And it was her self-assumed responsibility to ensure the security of people who were being subjected to torment of all kinds. And while the news of the cult of Phiri disturbed her to a great deal, she really couldn't say that Fiore's cults abstained from human sacrifices. These were all things she had dealt with before, but the feeling of helplessness still swallowed her because she had been unable to save that girl, whoever she had been. The corpse was a clear warning for the mages, Meredy knew it in her bones. But she wasn't going to be dissuaded from saving a country because some spineless bastard couldn't come to her face-to-face. And the impending sense of danger that she knew to be true was no longer important; what was important now was getting to the bottom of the cult and the lack of rain in the damned country.

Shaking off her fear, she went to Jellal and grabbed his wrist. He abruptly stopped mid-stride casting a confused glance at the girl in front of him.

"Meredy." He said, perplexed by the determination he saw in her eyes. "What's the matter?"

"Jellal."

The tone of her voice froze Jellal in his place. It was one that demanded all his attention on her and he wasn't going to deny her that.

"Yes?"

"I know that you're angry at what's happened and I am too." she said, holding her hand up to indicate that she had more to say.

"Now I don't what you're most angry about. But for me, it's the fact that this girl was killed to warn us away, to make us beware. So I can't help but feel as if I'm partly responsible for her death.

'But if we let this affect us any more than it has, we'll never be able to look past this.

'We can't act in anger Jellal."

Jellal stared at Meredy as her words sunk in. Looking back at his actions, he realised that for someone who had been in worse case scenarios, he definitely could have handled the situation better.

Meredy continued, staring straight into his eyes. "Usually, regardless of what's happened, you think it through. You deduce, you plan and you figure stuff out. But today, you didn't. And that can't happen anymore, because this team needs all of us to function well. And you're the brain of the team. We can't have the brain compromised by emotions."

Surprised at the way she had called him out, Jellal stood fixated in his spot and chuckled.

"Remember when I blinded myself during our fight with Macbeth?"

"What about it?" Though Meredy remembered the fight, what she remembered in greater detail was Porlyurisca chiding him for blinding himself and adding to her list of patients after the battle with Tartaros.

"I guess I shouldn't blind myself with anger this time around."

Meredy stared at him for attempting a lame joke but found herself unable to fight of the smile that made its way onto her face for the first time since their arrival in Phiri.

* * *

"Are ya going to tell me what happened to ya or not?" Gajeel's patience was running thin as he sat opposite Cana inside the carriage, his mission of checking on Jellal now abandoned.

Cana sat with her hands on her lap, her fingers interlaced. She had been silent since Gajeel had found her with tears in her eyes and had refused to talk about her problem.

Gajeel sighed irritated but immediately felt guilty when Cana flinched at the sound. Remembering what Levy had told him about being tactful to others, he tried his best to put concern into his voice, while trying to speak more formally to sound less rude.

"Cana," He tried again, hoping that it would work. "If you don't tell me what's wrong, I can't help." He cringed at how wrong everything sounded but was surprised when Cana made a sound of disgust.

"Yuck." She said, her face scrunching up. "Never try to be nice again."

Before Gajeel could yell at her, however, Cana had begun to speak again.

"I had a vision."

"A vision?" Gajeel questioned, unsure of how to feel about it. More often than not, visions for Fairy Tail members covered disastrous events running from gore and violence to death.

"I felt a little weird a while after I saw the body and then I knew I was going to get a vision and I came in here because I need to be alone and not get distracted."

"And?"

Silence hung in the air as Cana's eyes filled with tears again. A shaky breath later, she uttered the words that Gajeel would remember for a lifetime.

"I saw you holding Juvia's dead body in your arms."

* * *

 **A/N: I'm feeling particularly happy that I've managed to update in three weeks this time. I was a little upset that I was rejected by my university of choice for my future studies. Nevertheless, I believe there are better things in store.**

 **Moving on, what do you think will happen to Juvia with all these warnings about death? And, of course, what is up with this creepy cult? Hope you're enjoying this so far! Until the next update!**

 **And as always, your valuable reviews keep me motivated! Please do let me know your thoughts! And thank you so much for all the love and support till now!**


	8. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

* * *

Gajeel and Cana had come to the conclusion that they would be keeping the news about the mission a secret so as to not cause any more turmoil than was already present. Jellal's previous warning about Juvia's possible death was the factor that scared both mages the most, but for the time being, they both felt I would be better to keep the occurrence of the vision to themselves.

He left a while later, leaving Cana to her thoughts. She often hated the power to see the future because most of the time, she would only be upset by the things she would see. And even though the future was not fixed, there were certain fixed points in the concept of time and space that would occur no matter what happened. And the visions of such points were the ones she hated the most because she would have to go on knowing that no matter what she did, the worst case scenario would prevail.

Cana groaned, covering her face with both her hands and her eyes shut. Her brown hair fell around her face with her stooped posture as she sat, overcome by grief. She remained in that position for a while more until a soft rap on the carriage door prompted her to sit alert and open the door. Outside, she saw Meredy, a grim expression on her face. "The prince is here." She said before stepping aside to give Cana room to exit. Once she was on the ground, both the girls walked side-by-side to where they had found the body, quite a large crowd now around it.

Joining the crowd, Cana was surprised to see the prince crouched next to the body on his knees, eyes closed and palms pressed against each other as if he was in prayer. A moment later she realised that he was indeed praying from the way his lips moved while his eyebrows scrunched together. "It's a prayer to calm her soul," Lisanna whispered into her ear from her left.

Cana nodded meekly, her eyes glazing over for a second as she remembered the funeral of her mother, one that went by as quietly and swiftly as this one with a priest mumbling a few words of prayer before Cana was asked to put a fistful of sand into her grave. It had been just the priest, a few villagers and herself for that funeral and Cana couldn't help but feel the same vibe as the prince prayed for peace for the tortured soul while the body lay in the centre of what would have been a group of strangers had the girl been alive.

After a few minutes the prince stood up and she noticed how sad and angry he looked and she found herself wondering how it would feel to be in his shoes, feeling powerless to do anything while everything around was crumbling down into fragments.

In the blink of an eye, the prince had turned away and pushed one his guards causing the surprised man to stumble backwards. Cana watched as the prince barged further away from all of them, dropping to his knees before looking up at the dark sky screaming.

She felt sorry for him then.

* * *

The remaining distance to Tassim was covered without any events, much to Gajeel's relief. Everything that had happened had been extremely long and tiring experiences since their arrival at Phiri and Gajeel was craving for a few days of peace. He knew that it was too much to ask for; peace was not a staple meal for mages of Fairy Tail. And from the looks of the events that had transpired in less than 12 hours, it didn't seem to him that luck was on their side.

Before finally making a move, Gajeel had stood with the others as the guards and riders lowered the body into a grave that they had dug in haste. He had watched them cover it up and then turned to go into the carriage and prepare to leave. However, he had felt that something was missing and in two minutes he had crafted from iron a slab on which he etched _'A soul called back too soon'._ Fixing it into the ground where the girl had been buried, Gajeel had turned back to finally join his friends inside the carriage, only to stop abruptly for a moment.

Gajeel didn't believe in ghosts and spirits, but he was dead certain that he had heard a giggle behind him.

* * *

The first thing that Lisanna noticed about the royal capital was how different it was from Magnolia and Crocus.

She had always been in awe of Crocus, Fiore's royal capital, because of how stunningly beautiful it was at all points of time. But compared to Tassim, Crocus seemed a mere garden. As the carriage passed through the arch that served as the gateway to Tassim, Lisanna looked out to see the well-paved roads and walkways, all of them lined with rows of well-maintained flowers and shrubs. As they covered more distance, she began to notice the differences in the architecture as well, evident from the domed roofs and the softer lines and curved walls as opposed to Fiore's straight and square style of buildings.

She had already read that the palace was situated in the centre of the city, to allow equal access from all sides as well as for enhanced security. And as she spotted a grand stone sculpture of the water trinity, she squealed in delight causing the other mages to look out and take in the beauty of it as well. The sculpture was a part of a fountain, and the mouths of the three deities spouted water into the stone basin below.

"It is beautiful, is it not?" A soft chuckle came from the corner and the mages turned to meet the prince who had decided to ride with them after the discovery in the forest.

"Yes, it is," Lisanna said, her voice suddenly a whisper, not sure how to act around the prince of a foreign land.

"It is one of four identical fountains. Each one is considered sacred and people pray and make wishes here." The prince said with a smile, making it evident that it was something he was proud of.

"I thought ya had a drought?" Gajeel said, gesturing to the functioning fountain that was now behind them. "And how are ya growing flowers without any water?"

"We are currently reusing and recycling water. And we filter sea water too. Nevertheless, we cannot rely on these methods forever."

Watching Gajeel turn away, satisfied with the answer to his question, the prince spoke again.

"I truly am sorry for all that has happened so far. It has really been beyond my control."

The mages fixed their eyes upon the prince as his clenched fists trembled on his lap. "I feel helpless, and the citizens are growing fearful of the palace and us. Most of them are also conspiring against us, aiming to dethrone the family with the help of this senseless cult. They've already tried to assassinate me at least a dozen times in just over a month."

Even as stunned silence filled the carriage, the prince continued, "Of course, that is not of much concern. The main issue remains to be this drought. Please help us."

At this point, the prince had his head bowed and his voice small. The sight of the man was unsettling, for he looked far more a boy than a mature adult. Juvia watched the figure across her and felt a tremendous urge to soothe his worry. She reached across and placed her hand upon his own.

"We most definitely will."

When the prince finally looked up with tears glistening in his eyes, he was met with the smiling faces of six mages.

At that moment, Prince Arden Jasper De Luna knew that they meant it.

And when Juvia would pull her hand back from his, she would spend the next few minutes wondering why she had felt a spark when they had touched.

* * *

To say that Meredy's jaw dropped at the sight of the royal guest house was a gross understatement.

"This is awesome!", she shouted the minute she was outside the carriage, beaming with excitement.

And it was true. Sprawled in front of her eyes was a mansion that she believed could easily rival the size of the Fairy Tail guildhall. The cream coloured walls were a beautiful contrast to the deep mahogany door and window frames that were visible to her from the outside. The icing on the cake however, in her opinion, was the line of butlers, maids and cooks that stood on either side of the paved doorway to welcome the mages.

"Thank you so much, Prince Jasper!", Meredy called out to the prince, who smiled at her enthusiasm.

"Enjoy your stay," he waved, stepping into his carriage for his ride to the palace. "You will be picked up at half past one for lunch at the palace, and then we shall discuss your mission in length."

As the carriage rode away, the mages stepped into what would be their home for the duration of the mission.

* * *

Juvia welcomed the hot water raining down in thin needles from the shower-head with a blissful smile. It had been quite a while since she had been this relaxed, worry not clouding her mind. Inhaling the scent of her Vanilla body-wash, she moaned in delight, humming a small tune as she lathered up her loofah, scrubbing her hands before moving to her chest.

She and her friends had been served watermelon smoothies as soon as they had entered, and had then been shown to their rooms. Contrary to her expectations, each mage had been given a room of their own, and each room was almost twice the size that Juvia's room in fairy hills had been. She had walked into her room, to meet with cream walls and a large king-sized bed among the other furniture in the room and had plopped down on the bed as soon as her accompanying maid, Celina, had left her alone.

So far, Juvia had unpacked, eaten a packet of potato crisps that she had found in the bottom of her bag and had picked an outfit to wear to lunch. She had then wandered into the bathroom to freshen up.

Finally done with her shower, Juvia dried herself and stepped out of the bathroom, her towel tightly wrapped around her torso, while a second towel was wrapped around her hair.

Stopping at the edge of her bed, she picked up her bra and underwear and her dressing robe, clothing herself while walking to the dresser and reaching for her dryer. Freeing her hair, she dried it down part by part and secured her blue locks into a loose fishtail braid. A few minutes later, Juvia was ready to slip into her yellow and white sundress and brown sandals. In a few more minutes, she checked her reflection in the mirror, pleased with herself and left her room to meet the others for lunch.

* * *

As she descended the stairs, she could see all her teammates waiting in the lobby. "Sorry if Juvia's late!", she called, prompting the remaining five to look up at her.

"You're not late", Jellal said, smoothing the invisible creases on his white shirt. "We still have a good 15 minutes till we get picked up."

"In the meantime," Lisana said with a laugh, "We were just telling Cana how nice she looks."

Juvia glanced at Cana and smiled at her friend, who she thought looked absolutely dashing in her black cigarette pants and plum blouse.

"Juvia completely agrees", she said. Cana grunted in response as Meredy and Lisanna began to laugh. Juvia smiled to herself, suddenly remembering the days at Fairy Tail that she used to spend with her friends, laughing loudly over jokes and silly mistakes and innuendos. Among the three of them, Juvia had the shrillest laughter while Lisanna's was the loudest and Cana's was the deepest. Their laughter, when put together, was a weird cacophony that not many people cared about, but Juvia remembered the day when it had given Laxus a headache because of his hypersensitive hearing.

Those days of laughter had been in plenty, an occurrence that Juvia had thought that she would never have. But she was glad that she had people to laugh with now and awaited the day she could laugh so heartily again, without the fear of death looming over her head.

Their moment of joy was shortly interrupted by Jellal, snapping Juvia out of her reverie.

He cleared his throat and spoke, "This is our chance to get all the information that we've been looking for with no progress. So don't be hesitant to ask questions."

Juvia nodded, her mind focusing on the priority at hand.

"And, well," Jellal paused, his eyes wandering over each of his teammates, locking on Juvia. "God save us all."

* * *

The ride to the palace was a lot more silent than Juvia would have liked it to be. There was an ominous feeling around them, and regardless of how many times she tried to break the ice, silence still prevailed. She had never thought it possible to feel constipated while with her friends, but here she was, wishing that the ride would end just so that she could be out in the open.

To her relief, after a while more, the carriage halted at the palace doors.

Stepping out, Juvia marvelled at the beauty of the structure that towered in front of her. She was particularly awestruck by an impression of the water trinity that seemed to be made out of a blue stone-of-sorts on the walls of the castle, right above the tall doors. Following her glance to see what she was looking at, one of the guards chuckled.

"It's aquade."

Juvia turned her head to face the guard as he continued speaking.

"It's a precious stone that's found in these parts."

Juvia nodded and thanked the guard before she heard her name called.

"We're moving inside!" Gajeel hollered and Juvia walked fast to catch up with her friends who had somewhat left her behind while she had been staring at aquade.

Entering the long pathway, Juvia noticed that there were a lot of people moving in and out. Most were guards, but there were also commoners and other workers from what she could see. Seeing Gajeel just a few feet in front of her, Juvia finally slowed down, observing her surroundings in peace. Her peace was disturbed when she felt a tiny presence on her right shoulder. Turning her head to look at the intrusion, Juvia almost cooed at the sight of the small swallow perched on her body.

"Hello little one," she whispered to the bird, petting its head with a finger. "Did you want to be friends?"

The sparrow tilted its head and peered into Juvia's eyes.

"Chirp for me?" Juvia asked, giggling.

The sparrow seemed to nod and opened its tiny beak.

" _Don't trust the Queen."_

And then it flew off.

* * *

 **A/N: Finally! I feel so proud that I have updated on the schedule. Two weeks! Yes! I'm also still college hunting and applications have me pissed almost all the time. And I've got a couple of tests at the end of this month and at the beginning of the next. Oh well.**

 **In other news, what might a spark lead to and what does a talking sparrow entail?**

 **Stay tuned to find out!**

 **And thanks for your love and continuos support!**


	9. Chapter 8

_**Chapter 8**_

* * *

It had been quite a while since Juvia had experienced the ruthless sensation of fear. Searching her memories, she failed to remember a time when she had been as afraid of the unknown as she was at the moment.

As if the sheer nervousness of meeting a queen wasn't exhilarating enough, Juvia found her thoughts wandering back to the talking sparrow that had perched on her shoulder. She was no stranger to talking animals and beasts; her guild had three talking cats and she knew two more. And if that wasn't convincing enough, her best friend had been raised and educated by a dragon.

But while talking animals were nothing new, a talking sparrow that spewed sinister information was.

After the bird had flown off, Juvia's eyes had followed the bird's trail only to watch it disappear amongst the crowd swarming inside the pathway. Much too dazed to do anything else, she had then allowed herself to be dragged by Gajeel who had had enough of her falling behind and staring into space. On their way into the palace and while they were being shown various portraits of the previous rulers and members of the royal family, Juvia's mind had been preoccupied with making a decision to immediately alert the rest of her team about the incident or to keep silent.

Now, as she watched the rest of her friends easily making conversation with each other while seated around the dining table, she realised that not having told them had been the smarter option. Such a warning would have only served to raise everyone's guard against the queen. At least now she would be the only one listening to the queen with a baselessly critical prejudice.

Juvia carefully plastered a smile onto her face to ward off any suspicious looks she would receive over her silence and pretended to laugh at something Lisanna had said, though she had heard none of it.

"And then," Lisanna wheezed, her eyes filling up, "Natsu lunged at the 'ghost', conked his head and was out cold for an _hour_! It was hilarious!"

Whatever story Lisanna had been saying, Juvia deduced, must have been from their childhood days. She smiled a little at the thought of Lisanna and Natsu as little kids, chasing each other and playing 'tea-party'.

"Juvia!" Lisanna turned to her so fast that she was caught by surprise. "What did you like playing as a child?"

"Oh, um...", Juvia laughed a little, hoping that she would be spared from having to answer. She realised soon enough that Lisanna and the others were intently looking at her, awaiting her answer. She could see Gajeel watching and opening his mouth to talk, probably to change the topic. But instead of letting him gracefully save her from talking about games that she had never played as a child, Juvia took a large gulp of water, and played out one of her best impressions, fake coughing,

"Oh my God!" Meredy who was sitting to her right reached out and began to tap her head. "Be careful!"

Gajeel raised an eyebrow at Juvia and sighed, knowing full well that she was trying to divert everyone's attention. Juvia's childhood was a touchy subject and the most that Gajeel knew of it, which was frankly speaking more than what anyone else knew, was that she had been constantly bullied and that she had not had any friends or role models or parental figures. He on the other hand, had never been alone, even after his dragon had disappeared. So he guessed that Juvia's childhood must have been a very disappointing childhood, especially because she hated to talk about it. The only time he had ever asked her about it, there had been only crying and a torrential downpour. That had been a while after they both had joined Fairy Tail, and Gajeel had never asked again. And though he had been hoping she would one day find the strength to talk about it, he assumed that her not crying or causing a storm was definitely fine progress.

So he continued to not interfere as Lisanna and Meredy fussed over Juvia, chiding her for being careless and instead, readjusted his collar, fighting the urge to rip the itchy tag on it. Thankfully, he was interrupted by a loud, drawling voice just as his urge grew stronger.

"Presenting to you, her Royal Highness, Queen Mazha Iris De Luna, the 43rd wearer of the Royal Crown of the Trinity and the 43rd bearer of the Royal Sceptre of the Trinity of the Kingdom of Phiri."

Gajeel pushed back his chair, just as everyone else, and stood as a symbol of respect to the queen. He took one look at the scrawny man in an oversized coat and hat making the loud announcement and stifled the smirk that threatened to cross his face.

"Presenting to you, his Royal Highness, Prince Arden Jasper De Luna, declared the 44th wearer of the Royal Crown of the Trinity and the 44th bearer of the Royal Sceptre of the Trinity of the Kingdom of Phiri."

Once the man was finished, Gajeel heard the soft shuffling of feet behind him and turned to get a glance at the queen.

From a door behind him she entered, the prince right behind her. Her pale face was impassive, marked by wrinkles and her thin lips were grim and set in a straight line, devoid of any resemblance of happiness. Her eyebrows, he noted, were thin and arched unlike that of the thicker eyebrows he often saw on his girl friends. And her snow-white hair was pulled back into a tight bun and on her head sat a dazzling, and quite large, crown constructed out of fine gold and embedded with diamonds and blue stones that Gajeel couldn't identify.

The queen took her place at the table as the prince did the same and motioned for everyone to be seated with a graceful flick of her hand.

Gajeel watched for a change of expression, maybe even a smile, on the woman's face. He gave up hope of seeing any emotion on her within ten seconds. All that she had done in that time was look each mage up and down, her gaze lingering a little too long on Juvia for Gajeel's liking. He observed how her beady little eyes seemed to harden when she looked at the water mage and the way she clenched her jaw. Feeling protective, he snarled, stopping when he felt Jellal grab his wrist under the table and squeeze it, a clear warning. Gajeel then raised his free hand, covered his mouth and cleared his throat, an act that seemed to convince the others that his snarl had been a mere inconvenience in his throat.

Jellal let go of Gajeel's wrist when he saw that the queen had turned her attention to the two of them and had stopped inspecting the girls.

"Good afternoon," She greeted, her voice smooth, reminding him of the texture of velvet. "And welcome to Phiri. I hope you enjoy our lunch together."

Jellal looked over the food-laden table, observing the range of delicacies that had been prepared for their lunch.

"What you see before you, are the finest dishes that our country has to offer, prepared with the best ingredients by the most remarkable chefs. Please do enjoy every bite." No sooner had the queen finished speaking, the maids had placed the first dish in front of each person.

The aroma that filled his nostrils made Jellal realise just how hungry he had been. But he couldn't bring himself to dig in regardless of the tempting food in front of him because it just felt so _wrong_. They were here on a mission, had almost been kidnapped and had witnessed a corpse and were now seated in the palace, requested to eat lunch that seemed more for show than to actually satisfy anyone's hunger. And in all the time that they had been in the palace, the quest had not been mentioned _once_.

Jellal glanced around the table, catching all his friends looking uncomfortable. Cana seemed a little sick, Lisanna looked puzzled and Meredy was fiddling with a spoon while Juvia appeared mortified.

He caught her eyes and nodded, hoping that she would understand what he wanted her to do. Nodding back, she did just that.

"Pardon, your majesty," Juvia spoke, her voice quieter than usual, suddenly growing self-conscious as the prince shot her a warning glance. Ignoring him and steeling her nerves she went on. "What about the mission?"

An odd silence brooded over as the queen set down her fork and wiped the corners of her mouth with a white napkin. She looked Juvia in the eye and the water mage flinched when she met the harsh stare of the older woman.

"Eat first. We will talk. _Later_."

* * *

Seven courses later, lunch was declared done. The queen rose first, the prince second and following their exit from the dining hall, the mages walked in a line. A few minutes later, they were ushered into a smaller room, furnished with a round table and chairs around it. In the centre of the table stood a miniature statue of The Trinity, surrounded by cuts of fresh orchids.

Meredy blanched at the sight of the statue; the presence of it everywhere was starting to irritate her and that was the last thing she needed. Pressing her fingers to her temple she gently massaged herself, following the others and taking a seat at the round table.

She had heard of round tables being a symbol of equality due to its distinctive lack of corners, edges and head positions. Everyone seated around the table could see each other, hear each other and had the right to speak their minds. However, looking at the stern expression on the queen's face, Meredy wondered how much of equality was actually going to be practised during their discussion.

She took pity on Juvia, who seemed to have lost a lot of her confidence after the commentary during lunch. If the impolite behaviour hadn't come from the queen, Meredy was confident that she could have at least told her off. But unfortunately, they were dependent on the old lady for information and were forced to suck up to her for any chance at progress.

Meredy's flow of thought was interrupted by a clap and when she looked up, she saw that the sound had been made by the queen and watched, intrigued, as her guards and other members of her staff left the room, closing it behind them.

She shifted her view over to the prince who looked worried, though she could not fathom why. She was startled when she looked back at the queen to see the woman intently peering at her. Though slightly disturbed, she held the gaze with as much ferocity as she could express with her eyes, relaxing only when the woman looked over at Cana. Finally, after what seemed an eternity, the older woman finally spoke.

"If you would be kind enough to introduce yourselves."

Meredy raised an eyebrow, shooting a glance at the prince. At this point, it was assumed that the queen, being the client, would already be familiar with all the mages as well as their official information. And yet, here she was, asking for the mages to introduce themselves.

The prince suddenly spoke up. "Grandmother, they have already-"

He shut himself up with just a single glare from his grandmother and Meredy scowled, annoyed. She decided that she definitely did not like the lady. She was further pacified when she saw the irritation evident on Gajeel's and Cana's faces. Lisanna was masking her annoyance well, and Juvia and Jellal both remained expressionless.

Meredy waited for Juvia to begin, only to hear the silence around her. Finally, Lisanna spoke when it was evident that nobody was beginning.

"I'm Lisanna Strauss, an Animal Soul Takeover mage."

Meredy was about to continue the introductions by introducing herself when Queen Mazha scoffed.

The mages looked at the queen questioningly and certainly unimpressed.

"Ah yes. The bait of the family. Of course. What a privilege to have you here."

In the next few moments, there were a number of emotions that flashed across Lisanna's face; anger, humiliation, disgust and hurt.

Lisanna however, managed to keep herself from retorting and Meredy had to give her credit for that even though she herself was fuming with rage.

She glared at the old hag, uncaring about consequences. She could see the fury on all her friends' faces and she was quite certain that there was actual steam around Juvia. At least, that was impressive.

The queen locked eyes with Meredy and frowned. "And who might you be?"

Meredy held her ground when she answered. "The name's Meredy. I use Sensory Magic."

The queen looked at her as her thin lips spread into a smile. "The reformed criminal's assistant, I see." Her gaze shifted to Jellal while Meredy clenched her fists. "And I assume that you are the infamous reformed criminal."

Jellal clenched his jaw as the venomous woman focused on Cana next. "And you must be the drunkard daughter of the famous Gildarts Clive. Must be a pity to be so weak."

Meredy watched as Cana tightly gripped the table, only to hear the insults continue.

"The grand dragon slayer whose biggest feat was tying humans on a tree, am I right?" She sneered at Gajeel and Meredy knew that the only reason he was still sitting down was because of Jellal's iron grip on his hand.

"And the star of the show, the Rain Demon, who can't even control her own magic." Juvia closed her eyes, pursing her lips together.

"Grandmo-" The prince tried again, only to be cut off by a sharp reprimand.

"This is the circus that you have managed to call for help?" Her voice dripped with mockery and Meredy was tempted to slap her straight across her face.

Meredy watched as the woman straightened on her chair and glared at the mages. "So what is it that you need to know?"

The atmosphere in the room was murderous and each mage looked as if the only thing they needed was to leave before they hurt the witch. Meredy took a few deep breaths and swallowed her pride and dignity. "Your magic."

"Pardon?' The queen locked eyes with Meredy. But for the first time that day, Meredy could see uncertainty in her eyes.

"What happened to your magic?" She asked clearly, her voice loud with a strength that Meredy was unaware she possessed.

"Nothing has happened to my magic." The queen retorted, Meredy noted, exhibiting discomfort.

"Then why have you not been able to make it rain?"

"I have not been able to make it rain because I have grown old. My magic and my strength are not what they used to be before."

"Oh." Meredy heard Cana speak and saw that she had a smirk on her face as she looked at the queen. "Must be a pity to be so weak."

The silence that filled the room was deafening.

"How dare you?" Queen Mazha was hissing through her teeth as she stared at Cana with what could only be described as hatred. She gripped the armrests of her chair tightly and pushed herself up, towering over Cana.

"You scum, do you realise whom you are speaking to?"

"Oh sit back down, 'cause I honestly don't care." Cana crossed her arms across her chest, indifferent to the angry woman staring at her. She looked up at her with a poker face and spoke. "First of all, that's something you should be bothered about. It's your country and crown that's in peril, not mine. Secondly, your family called us on this quest. We're your best shot and you can't do any better, because beggars can't be choosers. And finally, we get paid regardless of whether your country survives or rots. So if you want us to be of any help, then drop that crappy attitude and fucking answer our questions."

The queen was shaking from anger and humiliation and Meredy had never been more proud of Cana. There were hints of smiles on her teammate's faces, and Meredy couldn't fight her own smile. But one look at Juvia's terrified face had Meredy's smile disappear without a trace.

The queen sat back into her chair, face red.

Lisanna was the one that asked the next question.

"What is this cult that is threatening your kingdom?"

The queen was quiet for a few seconds. She then took a sharp breath and began to speak.

"The cult calls themselves 'The Warriors of the Trinity'. They have only been active for the last four and a half years, only since the rain stopped. But they have been around for far longer than that. In fact, I believe they have been around for more than three decades.

"Their mission is to 'cleanse' Phiri of its corruption and darkness, and according to what they propagate, both the corruption and the darkness of Phiri is the royal family. And so, there have been multiple instances of coups that never succeeded.

"However, 25 years ago, there was a civil war. We lost countless lives; soldiers and civilians alike. And I lost not only my countrymen but also my son and his wife.

"They were driven to failure then. But they regrouped and began to spread their falsehoods and lies again and they are gaining strength now because of these rainless years.

"They claim that they will make the rain come back if they can come into power. But I will tell you this much- if they come into power, they will ruin this country and tear it down brick by brick."

Meredy glanced around the table, watching as her teammates carefully listened on.

"They have been sacrificing people to the Trinity, saying that human lives are required to appease the deities. So many have been slaughtered. And yet, people trust them." Her voice was filled with disgust and Meredy could feel the bile rise up her throat. She couldn't believe how naive people had to be in order to be convinced that the loss of lives could please a supernatural being, or beings in this case when these deities themselves were supposed to stand for love, peace, harmony, and fraternity.

"Why do you think the rain stopped?" Jellal asked, leaning on the table.

Queen Mazha turned to meet his eyes.

"I _know_ the rain stopped because the cult made it stop."

* * *

The sun had already set when the mages finally came into their house, absolutely tired.

"What a long day." Lisanna stretched, her joints popping.

The mages had been cooped around the table with the prince and the queen, seeking answers to all their questions. Even with the rough start they had received answers to all their questions although the answers were unsatisfactory.

"I completely agree." Cana sank into one of the sofas, clutching on a cushion. "Such a waste of time too. We've not learned anything of use. And they didn't tell us anything more about Kehsir, or about why we're being targetted either."

And the others had to agree. Apart from receiving some basic information about the cult and learning a bit about the civil war, they had learned nothing. And the information they had received was useless. It gave no leads and no solutions. Even after multiple questions, there was no knowledge about the sudden disappearance of the rain. And pinning the blame on the cult was also not of much use because the royal family had no idea where they could find the cult or how they could identify its members. In summary, they were faced with only dead ends, and had nothing to base an investigation on.

"And that crone's a bitch!" Gajeel said, receiving nods from Cana and Meredy.

"Man, I swear I coulda punched her face for the way she spoke to us!" He continued, glancing around to find the his best friend slumped on a sofa, eyes downcast. The sudden change in Gajeel's demeanour prompted the others to follow his line of vision and focus on Juvia.

"Juvia?" Cana called gently, moving from her seat to be near her friend. "All okay?"

No sooner had Cana touched Juvia's shoulder, the girl broke into loud sobs, her shoulders trembling.

"Hey!" Cana was now worried because the only times she had ever actually witnessed Juvia cry was when her feelings for Gray got the best of her. But she had never, ever seen Juvia cry like this before.

"Juvia is so sorry." She said in between shattered breaths, clinging onto Cana's hand.

"What the hell are you sorry for?" Gajeel's tone was harsh, but the concern was etched all over his face.

"All of you were insulted today." She wheezed, not daring to look up.

Gajeel groaned and plopped down next to the crying woman.

"And that is your fault because?" Gajeel waited for an answer and when none came he was relieved. "Listen, that woman's crazy and I'm not sure how your head works, but this ain't your fault."

"Take it with a grain of salt, Juvia," Jellal said with a soft smile on his face. "Besides, Cana gave it to her when she had the opportunity."

"As if I would have missed it," Cana mumbled, wiping away Juvia's tears as she finally stopped crying. "It's been quite a while since I was on fire like that!"

"Ooh ooh! Have I told you guys about the time drunk Cana went at Erza while Erza was angry?" Lisanna asked, already laughing.

"Wait! Let me grab some snacks for the story first!" Meredy raced off and returned with an armful of food packets as the mages all sat down for storytime.

* * *

The moon was high in the sky by the time Juvia retreated to her room. Changing into her pajamas, she stared out the window, overcome by grief.

She was grateful to her friends for having tried to cheer her up and yet she had been unable to shake off the fear that had gripped her heart ever since she had seen the queen. Juvia wanted to pretend that she was just being silly, giving unnecessary credit to a strange bird's message.

While the queen had definitely not been a very amicable person, Juvia knew from experience that the most straightforward and blunt people were usually the most trustworthy. At least, the old woman wasn't hiding her disdain towards them and pretending to be nice.

Nevertheless, that didn't mean that the woman could easily be let off the hook for having insulted them. At the moment, there was nothing her team wanted more than to go home. But they had come to the consensus that they would stay and honour their word to Prince Jasper, only because he had followed the mages out of the palace and had profusely apologized on behalf of his grandmother and begged for their mercy and cooperation.

Climbing into her bed, she relaxed as the soft pillows welcomed her head. Juvia drifted off to sleep wondering why the queen frightened her so.

That night, Juvia dreamed of relentless rain and a strange woman cackling while covered in scarlet.

* * *

 **A/N: I have no excuses. :')**

 **Hope you enjoyed the chapter (If anyone's still reading this lol).**


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